Hexagon
- For other uses, see Hexagon (disambiguation).
Regular hexagon | |
---|---|
250px A regular hexagon, {6} | |
Edges and vertices | 6 |
Schläfli symbols | {6} t{3} |
Coxeter–Dynkin diagrams | File:CDW 6.png |
Symmetry group | Dihedral (D6) |
Area (with t=edge length) |
|
Internal angle (degrees) |
120° |
In geometry, a hexagon is a polygon with six edges and six vertices. A regular hexagon has Schläfli symbol {6}.
Regular hexagon
The internal angles of a regular hexagon (one where all sides and all angles are equal) are all 120° and the hexagon has 720 degrees. It has 6 lines of symmetry. Like squares and equilateral triangles, regular hexagons fit together without any gaps to tile the plane (three hexagons meeting at every vertex), and so are useful for constructing tessellations. The cells of a beehive honeycomb are hexagonal for this reason and because the shape makes efficient use of space and building materials. The Voronoi diagram of a regular triangular lattice is the honeycomb tessellation of hexagons.
The area of a regular hexagon of side length is given by
The perimeter of a regular hexagon of side length is, of course, , its maximal diameter , and its minimal diameter .
There is no platonic solid made of regular hexagons. The archimedean solids with some hexagonal faces are the truncated tetrahedron, truncated octahedron, truncated icosahedron (of soccer ball and fullerene fame), truncated cuboctahedron and the truncated icosidodecahedron.
Hexagons: in nature and by humankind
- Hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene ChemEurJ 2000 1834.jpg
Crystal structure of a molecular hexagon composed of hexagonal aromatic rings reported by Müllen and coworkers in Chem. Eur. J., 2000, 1834-1839.
- France.jpg
France has a vaguely hexagonal shape. In French, "L'hexagone" sometimes refers to the country.
See also
- Hexagram - 6-sided star within a regular hexagon
- Unicursal hexagram - single path, 6-sided star, within a hexagon
- Hexagonal tiling - A regular tiling of hexagons in a plane
- Hexagonal number
External links
- Eric W. Weisstein. Hexagon. MathWorld
- Definition and properties of a hexagon With interactive animation
- Cassini Images Bizarre Hexagon on Saturn
- Saturn's Strange Hexagon
- A hexagonal feature around Saturn's North Pole
- "Bizarre Hexagon Spotted on Saturn" - from Space.com (27 March 2007)
Polygons |
---|
Triangle • Quadrilateral • Pentagon • Hexagon • Heptagon • Octagon • Enneagon (Nonagon) • Decagon • Hendecagon • Dodecagon • Triskaidecagon • Pentadecagon • Hexadecagon • Heptadecagon • Enneadecagon • Icosagon • Chiliagon • Myriagon |
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:
The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:
Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.