Hexagon
A hexagon is a polygon with 6 sides and 6 corners (vertices). Like regular triangles and squares, hexagons fit together without gaps. This is known as a tessellation. Because of this, they are often used for tiling floors. They are also quite common in nature. For example, the honeycombs in a beehive are hexagons.
| Regular hexagon | |
|---|---|
 A regular hexagon | |
| Type | Regular polygon |
| Edges and vertices | 6 |
| Schläfli symbol | {6}, t{3} |
| Coxeter diagram |     |
| Symmetry group | Dihedral (D6), order 2×6 |
| Internal angle (degrees) | 120° |
| Dual polygon | Self |
| Properties | Convex, cyclic, equilateral, isogonal, isotoxal |
Hexagons: in nature and by humankind
A beehive honeycomb
North polar hexagonal cloud feature on Saturn, discovered by Voyager 1 and confirmed in 2006 by Cassini Archived 2010-02-16 at the Wayback Machine Archived 2010-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
Micrograph of a snowflake
Hexagonal floor tessellations (in Rome)
Naturally formed basalt columns from Giant's Causeway in Ireland; large masses must cool slowly to form a polygonal fracture pattern
An aerial view of Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas National Park
Other websites
- Definition and properties of a hexagon With interactive animation
- Cassini Images Bizarre Hexagon on Saturn Archived 2010-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
- Saturn's Strange Hexagon Archived 2010-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
- A hexagonal feature around Saturn's North Pole
- "Bizarre Hexagon Spotted on Saturn" - from Space.com (27 March 2007)
Special cases, including regular polygons with their own names, in parentheses List of polygons by number of sides | ||
| 1–10 sides |  | |
| 11–20 sides | ||
| 21–30 sides | ||
| 31–50 sides | ||
| 51–100 sides (selected) | ||
| >100 sides | ||
| Star polygons (5–12 sides) | ||
| Triangles | ||
| Quadrilaterals | ||
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.