Hmm - it probably is simple we just haven't managed to work out the universal rules yet

yes thats what i'd like to know...is the original post refereing

to sides as 1) EDGES 2) SURFACES?

 

solid sphere has no edge but one surface

triangle has 3 edges and 2 surfaces

lets see---infinte I'd say---seeing how a sphere is composed of an inf. amount of inf. small corners---but that just might be perception---hmmmm---I could see how its none---but that would mean also mean a cone has one side---how many sides does a cone have anyways?---Oh well---

-Demosthenes- said in post # :

How many sides does a shpere have? One or infinite?

 

2--An inside and an outside.

 

Seriously, there's more to that answer than a joke, because in 3D analytic geometry, we aren't so much interested in the number of sides of a polygon, or the limit in which an n-gon becomes a circle, as we are in the number of ways in which a surface is orientable. In the case of the sphere, we can orient it in 2 ways. One in which the normal vectors point outwards, and another in which they point inwards.

Tom said in post #33 :

 

2--An inside and an outside.

 

Seriously, there's more to that answer than a joke, because in 3D analytic geometry, we aren't so much interested in the number of sides of a polygon, or the limit in which an n-gon becomes a circle, as we are in the number of ways in which a surface is orientable. In the case of the sphere, we can orient it in 2 ways. One in which the normal vectors point outwards, and another in which they point inwards.

 

I guess you were right http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/57835.html

I googled it.

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/MoebiusStrip.html

 

http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~pbourke/surfaces/mobius/

 

http://www.chessvariants.com/shape.dir/x_moeb.html

 

 

Wow, sorry if this post doesn't seem relevant to u but some one said something about a Moebius Strip. Shame never heard of it before . I mean we all must have made this like a billion times before. Try making a Moebius Strip and cut it along the middle line. It's interesting. Try the links. Absolutely no idea about the math though.

 

Don't quite see how a sphere can have infinite number of surfaces. And the concept of having zero surfaces is somewhat confusing too. I mean I see a sphere with two surfaces only.

 

 

 

Sayonara said in post 7 :

 

A side is an extrusion between two vertices.

 

A sphere has no vertices.

 

Therefore: Zero.

 

a Sphere has 2 sides.

and inside and an outside, simple enough really

"Inside" and "outside" aren't geometric sides. They're better described as within and without.

Depends on your definition of a side. Oh look, we are in a conversation loop. How fun.

in that case then, it has 1 side, measured in 720 degress as a ref.

angular shapes have clearly defined faces, any edge may then be taken as a Grid reference (depending on the resolution of accuracy required

atinymonkey said in post # :

Depends on your definition of a side. Oh look, we are in a conversation loop. How fun.

That's because people keep posting to this thread without reading what has gone before, and some of them are reading it all but not too closely.

or, some people believe that a circle is simply a polygon of infinite sides, so a sphere being the three dimensional representation of a circle could be a polygon of infinite sides and vertices. but i dont really care, so long as it still works the same.

See previous post.

i would have said a sphere has infinite sides, probably because you can think of a sphere as a limiting form of a regular poly-oid( i dont know the correct terminology, just taken off from cub-oid).

Like I said to Iglak, surely that would not be a sphere, but an infinitely tightly-packed mesh?

 

(edit - I am of course assuming infinite sides == infinite boundaries)

i think u should go into a branch of mathematics called topology

 

for topologists i think a sphere can have as many sides as they want cos it can be deformed into any shape. (square, Pyramid .etc)

I thought the mathematical definition of a sphere was "a continuous closed surface each part of which is equidistant from a central point".

 

If one is to ascribe infinite sides to a sphere, why not correct people who claim a cube has 6 sides and tell them that it is infinite? It seems a bit random to me.

Like I said to Iglak' date=' surely that would not be a sphere, but an infinitely tightly-packed mesh?

 

(edit - I am of course assuming infinite sides == infinite boundaries)[/quote']

 

ok . i may be wrong . a sphere can't have infinite sides. cos infinte isnt a real number. its like saying something has 3+2i sides.

 

but on the sphere being a limiting form of a regular poly-oid.

 

while each of the members of the set . is a mesh like u said. the limit isn't

 

take for example x_n=1/n.

 

the limit of 1/n as n gets large is 0 but 0 isnt in the set of {x_n:n belongs to N}

Good explanation bloodhound a browny point

So...I'm thinking one side, is that right? This whole thread is going in circles...whoa.

a sphere has two surfaces. the surface where the normal points towards the centre of the sphere and the surface where the normal points away from it.

Unless it's an ideal solid.

There should just be another word in the english language that is capable to describe a shere without having to wonder how many sides it has.

Since, if we dont get a genious around here well never figure out the answer that is 100% right.

I would say spheres have 1 side

There should just be another word in the english language that is capable to describe a shere without having to wonder how many sides it has.

Since' date=' if we dont get a genious around here well never figure out the answer that is 100% right.[/quote']

"Spherical" (see reply #42) does the job perfectly well, doesn't it?