Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with triangle

What is a triangular graph with axes perpendicular to the sides called?

Peter Petridish — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:59:52 -0800

What is the graph or plot called which: - is an equilateral triangle - has three axes - each axes is perpendicular to a side of the triangle? Here is an example, but searching for "likelihood triangle" turns up nothing. I've never heard of that term before.

A triangle plot seems similar, but the axes are at 60 degree angles. Everyone in my laboratory agrees that they are difficult to easily interpret without practice.

Bonus question: Is there an R package which would create such a graph?

Thanks!

Travel Near the Triangle

SweetTeaAndABiscuit — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:12:10 -0800

I’m on the search for a great little town for vacationing within about 2 hours of the Raleigh/Durham, NC Triangle area. I would love to find one great location that I could make a base for both weekends away several times a year and a couple of longer, week-long vacations yearly. I’m having trouble finding anything that seems like a possibility, mostly because of proximity. I’d prefer not to drive more than 2 hours to reach my spot, so that Friday evening get-aways are doable. While I know I’ll likely not find everything on my wish list in one locale, the perfect spot would:

-- Be about 2 hours or so from Raleigh, NC area.
-- Have some natural appeal, preferably with water of some sort (lake, river, ocean), although I’m not an avid hiker or outdoor-type person.
-- Have hotel(s) or B&B(s) within walking distance to at least a few restaurants, coffee shops, bookstores, etc.
-- I don't a lot of entertainment as this will mostly be downtime spent reading, napping, soaking up the sun and just unwinding.
-- Bonus points for having a funky, artsy type vibe like Brevard or Blowing Rock. I love both those spots, but they are too far away for a quick weekend away.

Any ideas?

spherical geometry!

klanawa — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:52:56 -0800

can you help me compute the area of a triangle on the sphere? i have this pretty much down:

the formula for the area is:

a = R^2 ((A+B+C) - pi)

where:

a is area
R is the radius of the sphere
A, B and C are the triangle's angles

where i'm stuck is finding the angles A, B and C. i'm starting from 3 geographic (lat,lon) points. i think i pretty much get the principle there (finding the normals to the planes represented by the lines between the three points, etc.). but i can't quite make the leap.

wolfram and the rest have helped with the theory somewhat, but this math retard needs a bit of step-by-step hand-holding. i've worn out google trying to find a site that doesn't make a lot of unreasonable assumptions about my competence as a mathmatician.

Staying on good terms with SO's ex?

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:33:31 -0800

Staying on good terms with SO's ex? Protagonist was friendly acquaintances with X & Y separately, having a lot in common with both--he even met X through Y. X & Y had ugly break-up, with X deciding she never wanted to speak to Y again, something she's held to. Protagonist was shoulder to both parties in immediate aftermath, though begged off speaking to Y about it once it became awkward to be keeping confidences from both.

After it was clear matters were irreconcilable, and giving notice to Y that he was going to make a move, Protagonist started dating X and a year later moved in with her. No apparent hard feelings from Y, who's moved on--Protagonist and X (and Y and his new partner) have now been dating for years, more than twice as long as X & Y were. Protagonist and Y have left the matter unspoken, though have cordially sporadically corresponded via e-mail on the "Congratulations on the new job" or a "Here's an academic article on the subject of your blog post question" level.

But X is still quite angry at Y, gets mad even when hearing his name, or about his employer.

As Protagonist sees it, both Protagonist and X are better off because X and Y broke up, and X says she's happier, too. But that hasn't translated into forgiveness; X holds grudges. Meanwhile all three are likely to move in the same small academic circles in our obscure field. This is awkward for Protagonist, who doesn't like unnecessarily snubbing people.

Y has a made "friend" request to Protagonist on Facebook--Y just moved to Protagonist & X's city; they have 17 friends in common, which perhaps understates the number of common friends, given how many they have outside of Facebook.

Protagonist's first duty is obviously to X; he's not going to accept the friend request. How to explain to Y politely and keep open the lines of communication while not betraying X's confidences? (Protagonist thinks Y's Facebook request is sincere, though acknowledges it's not outside the realm of possibility that he's passive-aggressively needling X.) Raising subject with X just upsets her, so we're at a dead end there.

How to Draw a Perfect Triangle?

fe2dell — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:59:03 -0800

My friend myn asks: If you wanted to draw a n equalateral triangle dead center on a rectangle. How would you most efficinently do this using a pen, paper, ruler? THANKS!

Triangle hotel toilet paper fold

Astro Zombie — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 09:15:48 -0800

How do you fold toilet paper into a little triangle like they do in hotels?

Loves me, wants him. (Friends with too many benefits)

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 14:07:53 -0800

How do you move past loving someone who is no longer in love with you? (assuming time and space apart are difficult?) or deal with you love for them until they're ready for you? As briefly as possible: I dated my housemate, and then a while later broke up with her due to a difficult period in my life, we still lived together and quickly became very close friends, but then moved into a 'very close friends with dating benefits'.

A year later we're still living together having moved house to a new place, and living as though we were in a committed relationship (opps, I forgot we'd broken up). She has gotten a new man in her life, however she still sleeps (sex)/sleeps (just that)/showers/shares/everything with me as though nothing was different. Because he is out of town it hadn't bothered me as I was sure when we were ready it would just happen again.

She's now told me that she still has feelings for me and loves me (as a 'very close' friend) but really likes this new guy (apparently the things we do together are just what very close friends do), and perhaps in the future we could try again.
I've now realised this is (possibly) just emotional manipulation from her to keep me around as her comfort person, since we share so much of our possessions and emotional support. The new guy lives across the country and they see each other on and off every few months, so she's not getting it from him. Given he is moving to our city in a few weeks to stay for a while I realise I cant stay in this 'relationship'.

How do I move on from this whilst still retaining respect for her, and for myself? Moving out of the house is difficult for numerous reasons, and I realise it's the best method but want some alternative advice for now.

What kind of conversations should I be having with her to find out her true feelings on this? (She avoids emotionally direct conversations as it makes her insecure, and I come off as dominating and too full on when I do try and express my feelings and intentions, and I also mince what I was going to say). Rationale for this question: I ask her how she feels about me and she says "I care about you deeply, and I still have feelings for you but I like Other_Guy", then later something completely the opposite will come out about how much she likes me. It seems everytime I ask her a question I leave escape clauses where she can say "but I want you to stay with me forever" etc etc.

Is she dragging this out hoping I wont pack my bags and leave?

Is hanging around for someone you truely love worth it? Or is the emotional destruction and torment going to leave me as damaged goods when (if ever) she says she does want me?

Anecdotal advice or experiences are appreciated. Hope this isn't too open ended and chatfilter.

Where to get an old ring?

greta simone — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 15:57:02 -0800

Where can I find estate/antique jewelry in the Triangle area? My friend is coming into town (Chapel Hill) to seek my help in picking out an engagement ring for his girlfriend. I have been put in charge of finding places to take him. He wants to look at vintage/estate/antique rings and my google-fu isn't too stong on this one, nor is my yellow-pages-fu, or my craigslist-fu. I would prefer actual stores and not online stores or online listings.
Also, seeing as how I hate driving, I would like for these places to at least try and be limited to Chapel Hill/Carrboro, Pittsboro (which we are definitely going to hit up--I'm thinking with all the antique stores down there this would be a good idea, right?), Hillsborough, and the lower end of Durham (I get lost in north Durham).
Also I hate driving to Raleigh. But if there is somewhere in Raleigh that we absolutley have to go to because there is a huge selection with reasonable pricing, then by all means, let me know.
Also keep in mind that this is going to be about a $4,000 kind of buy not a $100,000 kind of buy, so don't send me to an auction house or something.
Thanks in advance for the help-

Summertime in the City. [in a few months]

fionab — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 06:58:47 -0800

Am I crazy for thinking of living in Durham, NC without air conditioning? Considerations: I get really really hot, have a somewhat crazy internal thermometer, I have lots of books, and I don't want to be miserable. Problem: we found a super cute house and it doesn't have AC. What to do? I'm from way up north living in (for me) a hot and humid climate in the Triangle area. I've had central AC down here for 4 years, and I definitely keep my entire place air conditioned in the summer and fall - it's hot here all through September. I can likely escape out of here during July and August this summer.

Questions: Do window units actually work? I could put one in my bedroom, so that I could at least sleep in relative coolness.

What about my books? I have lots and lots of books, most of which won't fit in my bedroom. Will they suffer for being in the kind of humidity that settles in here, or am I being paranoid? What about photographs or art?

If I don't live with AC, will I actually become better adapted to the humidity? What are tips on dealing with it? This seems weird to be asking when it's gorgeous outside, but this house is a good opportunity and I need to weigh options here. I know that I'm being a bit of a baby about this but my heat issues are just one of those things that I've never been very good at adapting to down here. Help me, hive mind!

Friend + kiss = now + history

rhizome — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 13:22:22 -0800

What do I do about an old friend who wants to get back together with his old girlfriend, who I am now pursuing? They broke up a long time ago. Over the weekend, an old friend (call her Ann) and I went out, snogged a bit, and I spent a while later on combing through the "Should I make an old friend my girlfriend?" questions here. Suffice it to say that the jury is still out and who knows what will happen yet. We get along very well but don't hang out very often. We've known each other for a long time, back to high school. I like her, we're both single, I've always been attracted to her, and so on. We've both always been in long-term relationships, so it's kind of a coincidence right now. Basically, I'm in the middle of deciding on the pursuit.

This is complicated a little (more later) by the fact that back in the old days her first long relationship was with a very good friend of mine (call him Bob). They went out for many years, I never understood what kept them together, and it was all very dramatic all the way up until he left her for her best friend (call her Cathy). He has been married to this woman for ~7-8 years and they have a 5 year old girl together. He also went from being a skatepunk to being a born-again Christian living happily amongst his close-knit-but-damaged family (long story).

Really, this seemed like the crux of my issue until last night, that our getting together might be too complicated given his presence in both of our lives and her humiliation in their breakup. She does not refer to him in positive terms, to say the least. I don't speak to him much at all, maybe an email or phone call once or twice a year to catch up and some flaky plans to get together (he lives about 1000 miles away) that never pan out.

Last night I received an extremely dramatic email from Bob saying that he needs Ann back, needs to speak to her, to pass the email to her, that she is the one, etc. It is very badly written, many misspellings, and is completely out of the blue (sample line: "Tell her thatr I know she was the best, she is it./ Tel her I would give my live for"). I have to wonder if he's stopped taking (or has started taking) some kind of meds, but that's just an inkling.

So now I see myself being caught in the middle of an old friend, and older friend, two emotional situations and an email. I'm pretty sure this isn't one big triangle but rather two separate but connected situations, but it's the first time I've been in anything this soapy and thought I'd ponder the hivemind to see what kinds of suggestions y'all might have.

Can I date my friend's unrequited love?

pollystark — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 05:50:18 -0800

Love-triangle Filter. I am close friends with a guy called Phil. He is in unrequitedly in love with Jennifer. At a party on Friday, Jennifer and I talked for ages and she asked me for my number, which I gave her. I have talked to Phil and he has said he doesn't mind Jennifer and I being friends, "but will never speak to me again if anything happens between [us]." Jennifer and I are going for a drink on Friday. Is Phil being unreasonable, or should I not let anything happen between Jennifer and I? A bit of history. Phil and Jennifer had a week-long fling about a year ago, which she then broke off. They have been friends since. Early this year, Jennifer and I met for the first time and ended up kissing. Phil saw and was totally incensed and didn't speak to me for a few weeks.

Phil has fairly low self-esteem, and I know that if anything happens between Jennifer and I, it will hurt him, regardless of my moral position.

Where should I go, within a 2 hour drive of Durham, NC?

fionab — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 10:32:42 -0800

Where should I go next weekend? I live in Durham, NC and would like to keep the drive under two hours. Key points would include: really great B&B or eco-hotel (treehouse? massive windows looking outside?), great walks or cute town nearby, a body of water (lake, ocean, inlet) or nice woods, clean lines rather than frilly, or luxurious rather than old-lady-B&B. It would be great if you could recommend a specific place (Asheville is too far away for this weekend), or better yet, a specific hotel/B&B/inn. Pretend that money is no object, but I'd like to keep this under $200 a night (less is better) if possible; if a really unique place came up, I'd splurge. Where should I be looking? Winston Salem? Beaufort? Jordan or Kerr Lake? I know there must be something unique out there that I just haven't found yet. Help us have a weekend away!

Or, if you have something in mind that isn't within two hours, post it here anyway for future reference.

Does isosceles subsume equilateral?

i_am_joe's_spleen — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 11:11:56 -0800

Are equilateral triangles also isosceles? My daughter was given homework in which she had to identify isosceles triangles. We decided that given the definition "has two equal sides", an equilateral triangle must also be isosceles. Her maths teacher disagrees. It's been a long time since I did plane geometry, but I'm sure that the formal definition was not "two sides only"
I can't find authoritative, unambiguous references on Google. I'd love an online reference, but a dead-trees one would be good too.

I'm not going to buy a fight over geometry with a hapless primary school teacher but this is driving me nuts.

Lat and Long

obiwanwasabi — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 20:57:52 -0800

Given the latitude and longitude of three points, how can I find the coordinates of the point that is equidistant from them? [mi] The coordinates for the three points are accurate to three decimal places of a second, and I'd like the same accuracy for the equidistant point. I can plot them on a map then find the intersection of the perpendicular bisections of the chords, but accuracy using this method is dependent on the resolution of the map and my skill with a protractor and ruler. Solving a determinant equation is way beyond me. Is there an online calculator or Excel spreadsheet out there that will solve the centre for me?

Who gave b irth to a triangle?

hughbot — Sun, 04 Jul 2004 05:12:03 -0800

Years ago, I watched half of a very strange movie on late night television. I think it was about a couple who give birth to a triangle. I couldn't find it on Google or the IMDB. Anyone know the name of this movie?

I need a good photo or surface map of the Bermuda triangle--one that will print well on A4.

armoured-ant — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 17:34:10 -0800

I need a photo or map of the Bermuda trangle area, preferably a physical (rather than political map), if satellite photos can't be found. I need it at a decent resolution, too. Something that could be printed on A4 without looking too mucky.

Are there any sites that can output a specified area of Earth surface at a decent resolution?