Three-sided pyramid (with mistake)
posted by newcleanwars at 4:47 PM
Sunday, May 09, 2010
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5 Comments:
A three-sided pyramid is a tetrahedron. It's a Platonic solid. Kind of basic. Fundamental, you might say.
These experiments of yours remind me of Bucky Fuller. You do know abut Bucky, don't you? Oh, no wait, you can't, because there's no way you'd mistake a tetrahedron if you did.
Here, check out this animation I did.
You should certainly read some Bucky. Not sure where to start, though. It's been a long time for me. Maybe you could fool with these.
Thanks for your comment, Chris. Yes, this "three-sided pyramid" is called a tetrahedron in geometry. I'm not sure what the "mistake" you're referring to is. This form has four faces, including the base. I didn't imagine I had invented it. I don't know why you think I wouldn't know about Fuller just because I made this and wrote "3 sided pyramid (with mistake)" on it. The mistake I referred to was the extra inch of line I drew. I read Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth maybe 37 years ago and something called The Dymaxion World of Buckminster Fuller, or something, some years later. I don't know why I did these or whether I'll continue. I started going through Euclid's Elements. You must have done that, its pretty elementary. These "experiments" are sketches. I am posting parts of my sketchbooks on line, sketching in public. I realize it leaves my open to ridicule. Thanks for your interest. Groovy animation.
The only mistake I meant was your calling a tetrahedron a "three-sided pyramid". I figured if you knew what it was really called you wouldn't call it that. A pyramid, by definition, has four triangular faces and a square base. A three-sided pyramid is like a four-wheeled bicycle.
I'm not ridiculing you, just pointing you at other things that might interest you, along the lines of what you're already playing with. Folding up shapes out of flat paper and all.
OK. Maybe I was touchy at 6 AM. Here is a definition I got from the web. Free Online Dictonary. I don't want to argue about it. "Tetrahedron" is more specific and sounds cool. "Polyhedron" is hip too.
pyr·a·mid (pr-md)
n.
1.
a. A solid figure with a polygonal base and triangular faces that meet at a common point.
b. Something shaped like this polyhedron.
2.
a. A massive monument of ancient Egypt having a rectangular base and four triangular faces culminating in a single apex, built over or around a crypt or tomb.
b. Any of various similar constructions, especially a four-sided Mesoamerican temple having stepped sides and a flat top surmounted by chambers.
3. The transactions involved in pyramiding stock.
4. Anatomy A structure or part suggestive of a pyramid in shape.
I like m-w.com, personally. Not for any good reason.
Listen, at no point did I mean to be insulting or unpleasant or anything. I'm just bullshitting here. I collect dumb little bits of information and like to share them because I figure other people like dumb little bits of information, too. Don't mind me.
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