Stml043-Endmatter.Pdf

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Stml043-Endmatter.Pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.1090/stml/043 STUDENT MATHEMATICAL LIBRARY Volume 43 Elementary Geometry Ilka Agricola Thomas Friedric h Translated by Philip G . Spain #AM^S^fcj S AMERICAN MATHEMATICA L SOCIET Y Providence, Rhode Islan d Editorial Boar d Gerald B . Follan d Bra d G . Osgoo d Robin Forma n (Chair ) Michae l Starbir d 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primar y 51M04 , 51M09 , 51M15 . Originally publishe d i n Germa n b y Friedr . Viewe g & Sohn Verlag , 65189 Wiesbaden, Germany , a s "Ilk a Agricol a un d Thoma s Friedrich : Elementargeometrie. 1 . Auflag e (1s t edition)" . © Friedr . Viewe g & Sohn Verlag/GW V Fachverlag e GmbH , Wiesbaden , 2005 Translated b y Phili p G . Spai n For additiona l informatio n an d update s o n thi s book , visi t www.ams.org/bookpages/stml-43 Library o f Congress Cataloging-in-Publicatio n Dat a Agricola, Ilka , 1973- [Elementargeometrie. English ] Elementary geometr y / Ilk a Agricola , Thoma s Friedrich . p. cm . — (Student mathematica l librar y ; v. 43) Includes bibliographica l reference s an d index. ISBN-13 : 978-0-8218-4347- 5 (alk . paper ) ISBN-10 : 0-8218-4347- 8 (alk . paper ) 1. Geometry. I . Friedrich, Thomas , 1949 - II . Title. QA453.A37 200 7 516—dc22 200706084 4 Copying an d reprinting. Individua l reader s o f this publication , an d nonprofi t libraries actin g fo r them, ar e permitted t o mak e fai r us e of the material, suc h a s to copy a chapter fo r us e in teaching o r research. Permissio n i s granted t o quote brie f passages fro m thi s publicatio n i n reviews, provide d th e customary acknowledgmen t o f the sourc e i s given. Republication, systemati c copying , o r multiple reproductio n o f any material i n this publication i s permitted onl y unde r licens e fro m th e American Mathematica l Society . Requests fo r suc h permissio n shoul d b e addresse d t o the Acquisition s Department , American Mathematica l Society , 20 1 Charles Street , Providence , Rhod e Islan d 02904 - 2294, USA . Request s ca n also be made b y e-mail t o [email protected] . © 200 8 by the American Mathematica l Society . Al l rights reserved . The America n Mathematica l Societ y retain s al l rights except thos e grante d to the United State s Government . Printed i n the United State s o f America. @ Th e paper use d i n this boo k i s acid-free an d falls withi n th e guidelines established t o ensure permanenc e an d durability. Visit th e AMS home pag e at http://www.ams.org / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 3 12 11 10 09 0 8 Contents Preface t o th e Englis h Editio n v Preface t o th e Germa n Editio n vi i Chapter 1 . Introduction : Euclidea n spac e 1 Exercises 6 Chapter 2 . Elementar y geometrica l figures an d thei r propertie s 9 §2.1. Th e lin e 9 §2.2. Th e triangl e 1 9 §2.3. Th e circl e 4 5 §2.4. Th e coni c section s 6 3 §2.5. Surface s an d bodie s 7 7 Exercises 8 9 Chapter 3 . Symmetrie s o f the plan e an d o f spac e 9 9 §3.1. Affin e mapping s an d centroid s 9 9 §3.2. Projection s an d thei r propertie s 10 5 §3.3. Centra l dilation s an d translation s 10 8 §3.4. Plan e isometrie s an d similarit y transform s 11 4 §3.5. Comple x descriptio n o f plane transformation s 12 7 §3.6. Elementar y transformation s o f the spac e S 3 13 1 IV Contents §3.7. Discret e subgroup s o f the plan e transformatio n grou p 13 9 §3.8. Finit e subgroup s o f the spatia l transformatio n grou p 15 1 Exercises 15 6 Chapter 4 . Hyperboli c geometr y 16 7 §4.1. Th e axiomati c developmen t o f elementary geometr y 16 7 §4.2. Th e Poincar e mode l 17 4 §4.3. Th e dis c mode l 18 3 §4.4. Selecte d propertie s o f the hyperboli c plan e 18 5 §4.5. Thre e type s o f hyperboli c isometrie s 18 9 §4.6. Fuchsia n group s 19 4 Exercises 20 4 Chapter 5 . Spherica l geometr y 20 9 §5.1. Th e spac e § 2 20 9 §5.2. Grea t circle s i n S 2 21 1 §5.3. Th e isometr y grou p o f §2 21 5 §5.4. Th e Mobiu s grou p o f §2 21 6 §5.5. Selecte d topic s i n spherica l geometr y 21 8 Exercises 22 6 Bibliography 22 9 List o f Symbol s 23 5 Index 23 7 Preface t o the Englis h Edition We thank the American Mathematical Society , and Edward G . Dunn e in particular, fo r commissioning a translation o f our original book an d for hi s willingnes s t o prin t th e whol e boo k i n four-color . W e seize d the opportunity t o make infinitel y man y infinitesima l correction s tha t have bee n observe d sinc e th e first Germa n edition , al l o f whic h ar e not wort h listin g here . W e thank al l our colleague s an d student s wh o helped to identify them . Th e book i s intended fo r both undergraduat e mathematics students, to introduce them to an advanced point o f view on geometry, an d fo r mathematic s teachers , a s a reference an d sourc e book. This edition , lik e the original , ha s it s ow n homepage , http://www.ams.org/bookpages/stml-43 and an y furthe r correction s t o errors , mathematica l an d typographi - cal, will be posted there as they come to our attention. W e also inten d to presen t ther e additiona l materia l an d a collectio n o f relate d We b links tha t w e hop e th e reade r ma y find useful . W e wil l b e happ y t o receive and respon d t o any comments. I n particular, an y student wh o encounters difficultie s i n solving the Exercise s i s invited to outline th e problem t o u s b y e-mail . v VI Preface t o th e Englis h Editio n For teacher s i n school s an d universitie s w e hav e prepare d a smal l volume wit h hint s fo r solutions , availabl e fro m u s o n request . The Bibliograph y ha s bee n chose n t o signpos t othe r materia l whic h may b e helpfu l t o ou r readers , an d t o whe t thei r appetite s fo r geom - etry an d it s ramifications . I t i s not a lis t o f prerequisites . We thank ou r translator, Dr . Phili p G . Spain , fo r aidin g us i n makin g our boo k availabl e t o a wide r public . I n it s presen t for m th e boo k owes a lo t t o hi s expertise, an d w e are ver y muc h indebte d t o hi m fo r an exceptionall y pleasan t an d intensiv e collaboration . Berlin, Augus t 200 7 Ilka Agricol a Thomas Friedric h Acknowledgment The impression s o f th e ornament s o n page s 14 5 an d 16 5 ar e printe d from Owe n Jones , Grammatik der Ornamente (unchange d reprin t from th e Firs t Editio n o f 1856) , 1987 , b y graciou s permissio n o f Greno Verlag , Nordlingen , Germany . Th e origina l Englis h editio n appeared unde r th e titl e The Grammar of Ornament an d ha s ofte n been reprinted . Preface t o the Germa n Edition for Juliu s Geometry occupie s a n extensiv e par t o f th e mathematica l syllabu s in Germa n schools . I n middl e school , on e start s wit h propertie s o f the elementar y plan e figures (line , triangle, circle) , elementary trans - formations o f th e plane , an d surface s an d bodie s i n space . I n hig h school one comes to analytic geometry , trigonometry , advance d trans - formations, specia l curve s an d th e coni c sections . Element s o f non - Euclidean geometr y ca n b e covere d i n furthe r optiona l courses . Al - together w e hav e a broa d spectru m o f geometrica l theme s tha t th e mathematics teache r ca n presen t t o hi s pupils .
Recommended publications
  • USA Mathematical Talent Search Solutions to Problem 2/3/16
    USA Mathematical Talent Search Solutions to Problem 2/3/16 www.usamts.org 2/3/16. Find three isosceles triangles, no two of which are congruent, with integer sides, such that each triangle’s area is numerically equal to 6 times its perimeter. Credit This is a slight modification of a problem provided by Suresh T. Thakar of India. The original problem asked for five isosceles triangles with integer sides such that the area is numerically 12 times the perimeter. Comments Many students simply set up an equation using Heron’s formula and then turned to a calculator or a computer for a solution. Below are presented more elegant solutions. Zachary Abel shows how to reduce this problem to finding Pythagorean triples which have 12 among the side lengths. Adam Hesterberg gives us a solution using Heron’s Create PDF with GO2PDFformula. for free, if Finally,you wish to remove Kristin this line, click Cordwell here to buy Virtual shows PDF Printer how to take an intelligent trial-and-error approach to construct the solutions. Solutions edited by Richard Rusczyk. Solution 1 by: Zachary Abel (11/TX) In 4ABC with AB = AC, we use the common notations r = inradius, s = semiperimeter, p = perimeter, K = area, a = BC, and b = AC. The diagram shows triangle ABC with its incircle centered at I and tangent to BC and AC at M and N respectively. A x h N 12 I a/2 12 B M a/2 C The area of the triangle is given by rs = K = 6p = 12s, which implies r = 12.
    [Show full text]
  • Areas of Polygons and Circles
    Chapter 8 Areas of Polygons and Circles Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Perimeter and Area of 8.2 Polygons Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Perimeter and Area of Polygons Definition The perimeter of a polygon is the sum of the lengths of all sides of the polygon. Table 8.1 summarizes perimeter formulas for types of triangles. 3 Perimeter and Area of Polygons Table 8.2 summarizes formulas for the perimeters of selected types of quadrilaterals. However, it is more important to understand the concept of perimeter than to memorize formulas. 4 Example 1 Find the perimeter of ABC shown in Figure 8.17 if: a) AB = 5 in., AC = 6 in., and BC = 7 in. b) AD = 8 cm, BC = 6 cm, and Solution: a) PABC = AB + AC + BC Figure 8.17 = 5 + 6 + 7 = 18 in. 5 Example 1 – Solution cont’d b) With , ABC is isosceles. Then is the bisector of If BC = 6, it follows that DC = 3. Using the Pythagorean Theorem, we have 2 2 2 (AD) + (DC) = (AC) 2 2 2 8 + 3 = (AC) 6 Example 1 – Solution cont’d 64 + 9 = (AC)2 AC = Now Note: Because x + x = 2x, we have 7 HERON’S FORMULA 8 Heron’s Formula If the lengths of the sides of a triangle are known, the formula generally used to calculate the area is Heron’s Formula. One of the numbers found in this formula is the semiperimeter of a triangle, which is defined as one-half the perimeter. For the triangle that has sides of lengths a, b, and c, the semiperimeter is s = (a + b + c).
    [Show full text]
  • Figures Circumscribing Circles Tom M
    Figures Circumscribing Circles Tom M. Apostol and Mamikon A. Mnatsakanian 1. INTRODUCTION. The centroid of the boundary of an arbitrarytriangle need not be at the same point as the centroid of its interior. But we have discovered that the two centroids are always collinear with the center of the inscribed circle, at distances in the ratio 3 : 2 from the center. We thought this charming fact must surely be known, but could find no mention of it in the literature. This paper generalizes this elegant and surprising result to any polygon that circumscribes a circle (Theorem 6). A key ingredient of the proof is a link to Archimedes' striking discovery concerning the area of a circular disk [4, p. 91], which for our purposes we prefer to state as follows: Theorem 1 (Archimedes). The area of a circular disk is equal to the product of its semiperimeter and its radius. Expressed as a formula, this becomes A = Pr, (1) where A is the area, P is the perimeter, and r is the radius of the disk. First we extend (1) to a large class of plane figures circumscribing a circle that we call circumgons, defined in section 2. They include arbitrarytriangles, all regular polygons, some irregularpolygons, and other figures composed of line segments and circular arcs. Examples are shown in Figures 1 through 4. Section 3 treats circum- gonal rings, plane regions lying between two similar circumgons. These rings have a constant width that replaces the radius in the corresponding extension of (1). We also show that all rings of constant width are necessarily circumgonal rings.
    [Show full text]
  • Cyclic Quadrilaterals
    GI_PAGES19-42 3/13/03 7:02 PM Page 1 Cyclic Quadrilaterals Definition: Cyclic quadrilateral—a quadrilateral inscribed in a circle (Figure 1). Construct and Investigate: 1. Construct a circle on the Voyage™ 200 with Cabri screen, and label its center O. Using the Polygon tool, construct quadrilateral ABCD where A, B, C, and D are on circle O. By the definition given Figure 1 above, ABCD is a cyclic quadrilateral (Figure 1). Cyclic quadrilaterals have many interesting and surprising properties. Use the Voyage 200 with Cabri tools to investigate the properties of cyclic quadrilateral ABCD. See whether you can discover several relationships that appear to be true regardless of the size of the circle or the location of A, B, C, and D on the circle. 2. Measure the lengths of the sides and diagonals of quadrilateral ABCD. See whether you can discover a relationship that is always true of these six measurements for all cyclic quadrilaterals. This relationship has been known for 1800 years and is called Ptolemy’s Theorem after Alexandrian mathematician Claudius Ptolemaeus (A.D. 85 to 165). 3. Determine which quadrilaterals from the quadrilateral hierarchy can be cyclic quadrilaterals (Figure 2). 4. Over 1300 years ago, the Hindu mathematician Brahmagupta discovered that the area of a cyclic Figure 2 quadrilateral can be determined by the formula: A = (s – a)(s – b)(s – c)(s – d) where a, b, c, and d are the lengths of the sides of the a + b + c + d quadrilateral and s is the semiperimeter given by s = 2 . Using cyclic quadrilaterals, verify these relationships.
    [Show full text]
  • Heron's Formula for Triangular Area Heron of Alexandria
    Heron’s Formula for Triangular Area by Christy Williams, Crystal Holcomb, and Kayla Gifford Heron of Alexandria n Physicist, mathematician, and engineer n Taught at the museum in Alexandria n Interests were more practical (mechanics, engineering, measurement) than theoretical n He is placed somewhere around 75 A.D. (±150) 1 Heron’s Works n Automata n Catoptrica n Mechanica n Belopoecia n Dioptra n Geometrica n Metrica n Stereometrica n Pneumatica n Mensurae n Cheirobalistra The Aeolipile Heron’s Aeolipile was the first recorded steam engine. It was taken as being a toy but could have possibly caused an industrial revolution 2000 years before the original. 2 Metrica n Mathematicians knew of its existence for years but no traces of it existed n In 1894 mathematical historian Paul Tannery found a fragment of it in a 13th century Parisian manuscript n In 1896 R. Schöne found the complete manuscript in Constantinople. n Proposition I.8 of Metrica gives the proof of his formula for the area of a triangle How is Heron’s formula helpful? How would you find the area of the given triangle using the most common area formula? 1 A = 2 bh 25 17 Since no height is given, it becomes quite difficult… 26 3 Heron’s Formula Heron’s formula allows us to find the area of a triangle when only the lengths of the three sides are given. His formula states: K = s(s - a)(s - b)(s - c) Where a, b, and c, are the lengths of the sides and s is the semiperimeter of the triangle.
    [Show full text]
  • A Tour De Force in Geometry
    A Tour de Force in Geometry Thomas Mildorf January 4, 2006 We are alone in a desert, pursued by a hungry lion. The only tool we have is a spherical, adamantine cage. We enter the cage and lock it, securely. Next we perform an inversion with respect to the cage. The lion is now in the cage and we are outside. In this lecture we try to capture some geometric intuition. To this end, the ¯rst section is a brief outline (by no means complete) of famous results in geometry. In the second, we motivate some of their applications. 1 Factoids First, we review the canonical notation. Let ABC be a triangle and let a = BC; b = CA; c = AB. K denotes the area of ABC, while r and R are the inradius and circumradius of ABC respectively. G, H, I, and O are the centroid, orthocenter, incenter, and circumcenter of ABC respectively. Write rA; rB; rC for the respective radii of the excircles opposite A; B, and C, and let s = (a + b + c)=2 be the semiperimeter of ABC. 1. Law of Sines: a b c = = = 2R sin(A) sin(B) sin(C) 2. Law of Cosines: a2 + b2 ¡ c2 c2 = a2 + b2 ¡ 2ab cos(C) or cos(C) = 2ab 3. Area (ha height from A): 1 1 1 1 K = ah = ab sin(C) = ca sin(B) = ab sin(C) 2 a 2 2 2 = 2R2 sin(A) sin(B) sin(C) abc = 4R = rs = (s ¡ a)rA = (s ¡ b)rB = (s ¡ c)rC 1 p 1p = s(s ¡ a)(s ¡ b)(s ¡ c) = 2(a2b2 + b2c2 + c2a2) ¡ (a4 + b4 + c4) p 4 = rrArBrC 4.
    [Show full text]
  • Six Mathematical Gems from the History of Distance Geometry
    Six mathematical gems from the history of Distance Geometry Leo Liberti1, Carlile Lavor2 1 CNRS LIX, Ecole´ Polytechnique, F-91128 Palaiseau, France Email:[email protected] 2 IMECC, University of Campinas, 13081-970, Campinas-SP, Brazil Email:[email protected] February 28, 2015 Abstract This is a partial account of the fascinating history of Distance Geometry. We make no claim to completeness, but we do promise a dazzling display of beautiful, elementary mathematics. We prove Heron’s formula, Cauchy’s theorem on the rigidity of polyhedra, Cayley’s generalization of Heron’s formula to higher dimensions, Menger’s characterization of abstract semi-metric spaces, a result of G¨odel on metric spaces on the sphere, and Schoenberg’s equivalence of distance and positive semidefinite matrices, which is at the basis of Multidimensional Scaling. Keywords: Euler’s conjecture, Cayley-Menger determinants, Multidimensional scaling, Euclidean Distance Matrix 1 Introduction Distance Geometry (DG) is the study of geometry with the basic entity being distance (instead of lines, planes, circles, polyhedra, conics, surfaces and varieties). As did much of Mathematics, it all began with the Greeks: specifically Heron, or Hero, of Alexandria, sometime between 150BC and 250AD, who showed how to compute the area of a triangle given its side lengths [36]. After a hiatus of almost two thousand years, we reach Arthur Cayley’s: the first paper of volume I of his Collected Papers, dated 1841, is about the relationships between the distances of five points in space [7]. The gist of what he showed is that a tetrahedron can only exist in a plane if it is flat (in fact, he discussed the situation in one more dimension).
    [Show full text]
  • Characterizations of Cyclic Quadrilaterals
    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOMETRY Vol. 8 (2019), No. 2, 14 - 32 MORE CHARACTERIZATIONS OF CYCLIC QUADRILATERALS MARTIN JOSEFSSON Abstract. We continue the project of collecting a large number of charac- terizations of convex cyclic quadrilaterals with their proofs, which we started in [18]. This time we prove 15 more, focusing primarily on characterizations concerning trigonometry and the diagonals. 1. Introduction In a convex quadrilateral ABCD, let the extensions of opposite sides AB and CD intersect at E. Suppose the angle bisector to angle AED intersects BC at G and AD at H in such a way that (1) AH BG = CG DH. · · What can we conclude about quadrilateral ABCD? Figure 1. A quadrilateral in which AH · BG = CG · DH Applying the angle bisector theorem in triangles ECB and EDA (see Figure 1), we get CE CG DE DH = , = ; BE BG AE AH ————————————– Keywords and phrases: Cyclic quadrilateral, Convex quadrilateral, Characterization, Converse, Ptolemy’s theorem (2010)Mathematics Subject Classification: 51M04, 51M25, 97E50 Received: 22.04.2019. In revised form: 29.08.2019. Accepted: 26.08.2019. More characterizations of cyclic quadrilaterals 15 whence CE DE CG DH (2) = . BE · AE BG · AH The right hand side is equal to 1 due to the assumption (1), implying that AE BE = DE CE. · · We recognize this equality as the external case of the intersecting chords theorem. According to its converse, it holds that ABCD must be a cyclic quadrilateral. In fact we see in (2) that AH BG = CG DH AE BE = DE CE, · · ⇔ · · and since the intersecting chords theorem is a characterization of cyclic quadrilaterals (see Theorem A.5 in [18]), then so is equality (1).
    [Show full text]
  • Geometry for Middle School Teachers Companion Problems for the Connected Mathematics Curriculum
    Geometry for Middle School Teachers Companion Problems for the Connected Mathematics Curriculum Carl W. Lee and Jakayla Robbins Department of Mathematics University of Kentucky Draft — May 27, 2004 1 Contents 1 Course Information 4 1.1 NSF Support . 4 1.2Introduction.................................... 4 1.3GeneralCourseComments............................ 5 1.3.1 Overview................................. 5 1.3.2 Objectives................................. 5 1.3.3 DevelopmentofThemes......................... 5 1.3.4 InvestigativeApproach.......................... 6 1.3.5 TakingAdvantageofTechnology.................... 6 1.3.6 References................................. 6 1.4UsefulSoftware.................................. 7 1.4.1 Wingeom................................. 7 1.4.2 POV-Ray................................. 7 2 Shapes and Designs 8 2.1 Tilings . 8 2.2RegularPolygons................................. 8 2.3PlanarClusters.................................. 10 2.4 Regular and Semiregular Tilings . 12 2.5SpaceClustersandExtensionstoPolyhedra.................. 13 2.6Honeycombs.................................... 14 2.7 Spherical Tilings . 15 2.8Triangles...................................... 15 2.9Quadrilaterals................................... 18 2.10Angles....................................... 23 2.11AngleSumsinPolygons............................. 28 2.12 Tilings with Nonregular Polygons . 30 2.13PolygonalandPolyhedralSymmetry...................... 31 2.14TurtleGeometry................................. 36 3 Covering and Surrounding
    [Show full text]
  • Advanced Euclidean Geometry What Is the Center of a Triangle?
    Advanced Euclidean Geometry What is the center of a triangle? But what if the triangle is not equilateral? ? Circumcenter Equally far from the vertices? P P I II Points are on the perpendicular A B bisector of a line ∆ I ≅ ∆ II (SAS) A B segment iff they PA = PB are equally far from the endpoints. P P ∆ I ≅ ∆ II (Hyp-Leg) I II AQ = QB A B A Q B Circumcenter Thm 4.1 : The perpendicular bisectors of the sides of a triangle are concurrent at a point called the circumcenter (O). A Draw two perpendicular bisectors of the sides. Label the point where they meet O (why must they meet?) Now, OA = OB, and OB = OC (why?) O so OA = OC and O is on the B perpendicular bisector of side AC. The circle with center O, radius OA passes through all the vertices and is C called the circumscribed circle of the triangle. Circumcenter (O) Examples: Orthocenter A The triangle formed by joining the midpoints of the sides of ∆ABC is called the medial triangle of ∆ABC. B The sides of the medial triangle are parallel to the original sides of the triangle. C A line drawn from a vertex to the opposite side of a triangle and perpendicular to it is an altitude. Note that in the medial triangle the perp. bisectors are altitudes. Thm 4.2: The altitudes of a triangle are concurrent at a point called the orthocenter (H). Orthocenter (H) Thm 4.2: The altitudes of a triangle are concurrent at a point called the orthocenter (H).
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring Euclidean Geometry
    Dennis Chen’s Exploring Euclidean Geometry A S I B C D E T M X IA Dennis Chen Last updated August 8, 2020 Exploring Euclidean Geometry V2 Dennis Chen August 8, 2020 1 Introduction This is a preview of Exploring Euclidean Geometry V2. It contains the first five chapters, which constitute the entirety of the first part. This should be a good introduction for those training for computational geometry questions. This book may be somewhat rough on beginners, so I do recommend using some slower-paced books as a supplement, but I believe the explanations should be concise and clear enough to understand. In particular, a lot of other texts have unnecessarily long proofs for basic theorems, while this book will try to prove it as clearly and succintly as possible. There aren’t a ton of worked examples in this section, but the check-ins should suffice since they’re just direct applications of the material. Contents A The Basics3 1 Triangle Centers 4 1.1 Incenter................................................4 1.2 Centroid................................................5 1.3 Circumcenter.............................................6 1.4 Orthocenter..............................................7 1.5 Summary...............................................7 1.5.1 Theory............................................7 1.5.2 Tips and Strategies......................................8 1.6 Exercises...............................................9 1.6.1 Check-ins...........................................9 1.6.2 Problems...........................................9
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:1902.07160V1 [Math.HO] 19 Feb 2019 A0(R) = = P(R)(1) Dr for Circles
    February 19, 2019 (a minor variation of a July 25, 2018 edition) Unit shapes and a wealth of calculus problems Robert G. Donnelly1 and Alexander F. Thome2 Abstract For a given family of similar shapes, what we call a \unit shape" strongly analogizes the role of the unit circle within the family of all circles. Within many such families of similar shapes, we present what we believe is naturally and intrinsically unital about their unit shapes. We present a number of calculus problems related to extremal questions about collections of unit shapes, and we recapitulate some isoperimetric problems in terms of unit shapes. We close by presenting some problems (some of which are open) and by proffering perhaps a new perspective on the π vs. τ debate. Mathematics Subject Classification: 51M25 (26B15, 51M16) Keywords: Area, perimeter, semiperimeter, simple closed curve, Blob Pythagorean Theorem, rigid motion, congruence, scaling, similarity, Isoperimetric Inequality x1 Introduction. A striking and frequently pondered fact commonly encountered in first- semester Calculus is that d πr2 = π · 2r; dr an equality which can be interpreted as saying that, for circles, the derivative of area is perimeter (i.e. circumference) when each of these quantities is understood with respect to circle radius r. This familiar identity is often interpreted/explained using differentials, as one can see, for example, in the internet discussions [3] and [8]. Here is how this line of reasoning generally goes: Express circle area A and perimeter P as functions of radius: A(r) = π r2 and P(r) = π · 2r. Then a small change dr in the radius r results in an exact change in area r + (r + dr) ∆A = π(r + dr)2 − πr2 = π · 2 dr = π · 2rdr + π(dr)2; 2 which is the area of an annulus of thickness dr along the circle's boundary.
    [Show full text]