The shapes of the areas and spaces within the 2-D and 3-D varieties of the Cartesian coordinate systems are easy to imagine as well. The 2-D one is a square and the 3-D one is a cube. Imagining the space within the 3-D variety of my coordinate system is not as easy. Here are three photographs of the 3-D variety. The four bundles of like light-colored fuzzy sticks (white, pink (which looks white), yellow and orange) can be thought of as representing the four axes of the coordinate system. If I call the four light-colored axes-vectors a, b, c, and d, then the vectors a+b, a+c, a+d, b+c, b+d, and c+d are represented by the mixed color bundles, and then the vectors a+b+c, a+b+d, a+c+d, and b+c+d are represented by the dark-colored fuzzy stick bundles. In the first photograph, the white axis is pointing straight up. Note how, at certain angles, the space is outlined by a square, and, at certain angles, it is outlined by a regular hexagon (though perspective seems to distort the shape).
I have looked on the WWW for names for the shape of the space in the 3-D variety of my coordinate system, but haven't found any. I think it might be a new shape, but I'm not certain.
No comments:
Post a Comment