Small_circle Small_circle

Small circle - Definition

Related Words: Acquaintance, Advance, Ambience, Anklet, Annulus, Aphelion, Apogee, Arc, Arena, Areola, Associates, Aura, Aureole, Back, Bailiwick

A small circle, of a sphere, is the circle constructed by a plane crossing the sphere not in its middle point. Small circles always have smaller diameters than the sphere itself (compare great circle).

Image:Small_circle.png
Small circle of a sphere.


The small circle does not have the smallest curvature, and hence, a segment on its circumference does not represent the smallest path between two points on a spherical surface.

Copyright 2009 WordIQ.com - Privacy Policy  :: Terms of Use  :: Contact Us  :: About Us
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the this Wikipedia article.