Topology question

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Lexington High School Mathematics : One Thread

There was a question on the SATs which asked about the number of coincident points between a triangle and a circle given that the triangle only has one vertex on the circle. The question asked "which of the following CANNOT be the number of coincident points? 2 3 4 5 6" If we stick to Euclidean geometry then the answer is 6. However, if we put the circle and triangle on a sphere or a torus then we can get any number of coincident points. My question is whether with 6 such points on a sphere or torus, can you have a triangle with 1800? T

-- Student Phil M-F (lepernthern@hotmail.com), October 22, 2000

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