Hexagon
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Regular hexagon | |
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![]() A regular hexagon
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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 |
In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek ἕξ hex, "six" and γωνία, gonía, "corner, angle") is a 6-sided polygon or 6-gon. The total of the internal angles of any hexagon is 720°.
Contents
- 1 Regular hexagon
- 2 Symmetry
- 3 Related polygons and tilings
- 4 Hexagonal structures
- 5 Tesselations by hexagons
- 6 Hexagon inscribed in a conic section
- 7 Hexagon tangential to a conic section
- 8 Equilateral triangles on the sides of an arbitrary hexagon
- 9 Convex equilateral hexagon
- 10 Hexagons: natural and human-made
- 11 See also
- 12 References
- 13 External links
Regular hexagon
A regular hexagon has Schläfli symbol {6}[1] and can also be constructed as a truncated equilateral triangle, t{3}, which alternates two types of edges.
![](/w/images/a/ab/Regular_Hexagon_Inscribed_in_a_Circle_240px.gif)
A regular hexagon is defined as a hexagon that is both equilateral and equiangular. It is bicentric, meaning that it is both cyclic (has a circumscribed circle) and tangential (has an inscribed circle).
The common length of the sides equals the radius of the circumscribed circle, which equals times the apothem (radius of the inscribed circle). All internal angles are 120 degrees. A regular hexagon has 6 rotational symmetries (rotational symmetry of order six) and 6 reflection symmetries (six lines of symmetry), making up the dihedral group D6. The longest diagonals of a regular hexagon, connecting diametrically opposite vertices, are twice the length of one side. From this it can be seen that a triangle with a vertex at the center of the regular hexagon and sharing one side with the hexagon is equilateral, and that the regular hexagon can be partitioned into six equilateral triangles.
Like squares and equilateral triangles, regular hexagons fit together without any gaps to tile the plane (three hexagons meeting at every vertex), and so are useful for constructing tessellations. The cells of a beehive honeycomb are hexagonal for this reason and because the shape makes efficient use of space and building materials. The Voronoi diagram of a regular triangular lattice is the honeycomb tessellation of hexagons. It is not usually considered a triambus, although it is equilateral.
Parameters
The area of a regular hexagon of side length t is given by
An alternative formula for the area is
where the length d is the distance between the parallel sides (also referred to as the flat-to-flat distance), or the height of the hexagon when it sits on one side as base, or the diameter of the inscribed circle.
Another alternative formula for the area if only the flat-to-flat distance, d, is known, is given by
The area can also be found by the formulas
and
where a is the apothem and p is the perimeter.
The regular hexagon fills the fraction of its circumscribed circle.
The perimeter of a regular hexagon of side length t is 6t, its maximal diameter 2t, and its minimal diameter .
If a regular hexagon has successive vertices A, B, C, D, E, F and if P is any point on the circumscribing circle between B and C, then PE + PF = PA + PB + PC + PD.
Symmetry
![](/w/images/thumb/8/83/Hexagon_reflections.svg/160px-Hexagon_reflections.svg.png)
The regular hexagon has Dih6 symmetry, order 12. There are 3 dihedral subgroups: Dih3, Dih2, and Dih1, and 4 cyclic subgroups: Z6, Z3, Z2, and Z1.
These symmetries express 9 distinct symmetries of a regular hexagon. John Conway labels these by a letter and group order.[2] r12 is full symmetry, and a1 is no symmetry. d6, a isogonal hexagon constructed by four mirrors can alternate long and short edges, and p6, an isotoxal hexagon constructed with equal edge lengths, but vertices alternating two different internal angles. These two forms are duals of each other and have half the symmetry order of the regular hexagon. The i4 forms are regular hexagons flattened or stretched along one symmetry direction. It can be seen as an elongated rhombus, while d2 and p2 can be seen as horizontally and vertically elongated kites. g2 hexagons, with opposite sides parallel are also called hexagonal parallelogons.
Each subgroup symmetry allows one or more degrees of freedom for irregular forms. Only the g6 subgroup has no degrees of freedom but can seen as directed edges.
![]() r12 regular |
![]() i4 |
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![]() d6 isotoxal |
![]() g6 directed |
![]() p6 isogonal |
![]() d2 |
![]() g2 general parallelogon |
![]() p2 |
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![]() g3 |
![]() a1 |
Hexagons of symmetry g2, i4, and r12, as parallelogons can tessellate the Euclidean plane by translation. Other hexagon shapes can tile the plane with different orientations.
p6m (*632) | cmm (2*22) | p2 (2222) | p31m (3*3) | pmg (22*) | pg (××) | |
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![]() r12 |
![]() i4 |
![]() g2 |
![]() d2 |
![]() d2 |
![]() p2 |
![]() a1 |
Related polygons and tilings
A regular hexagon has Schläfli symbol {6}. A regular hexagon is a part the regular hexagonal tiling, {6,3}, with 3 hexagonal around each vertex.
A regular hexagon can also be created as a truncated equilateral triangle, with Schläfli symbol t{3}. Seen with two types (colors) of edges, this form only has D3 symmetry.
A truncated hexagon, t{6}, is an dodecagon, {12}, alternating 2 types (colors) of edges. An alternated hexagon, h{6}, is a equilateral triangle, {3}. A regular hexagon can be stellated with equilateral triangles on its edges, creating a hexagram. A regular hexagon can be dissected into 6 equilateral triangles by adding a center point. This pattern repeats within the regular triangular tiling.
A regular hexagon can be extended into a regular dodecagon by adding alternating squares and equilateral triangles around it. This pattern repeats within the rhombitrihexagonal tiling.
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Regular {6} |
Truncated t{3} = {6} |
Hypertruncated triangles | Stellated Star figure 2{3} |
Truncated t{6} = {12} |
Alternated h{6} = {3} |
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A concave hexagon | A self-intersecting hexagon (star polygon) | Dissected {6} | Extended Central {6} in {12} |
A skew hexagon, within cube |
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Hexagonal structures
From bees' honeycombs to the Giant's Causeway, hexagonal patterns are prevalent in nature due to their efficiency. In a hexagonal grid each line is as short as it can possibly be if a large area is to be filled with the fewest number of hexagons. This means that honeycombs require less wax to construct and gain lots of strength under compression.
Irregular hexagons with parallel opposite edges are called parallelogons and can also tile the plane by translation. In three dimensions, hexagonal prisms with parallel opposite faces are called parallelohedrons and these can tessellate 3-space by translation.
Form | Hexagonal tiling | Hexagonal prismatic honeycomb |
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Regular | ![]() |
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Parallelogonal | ![]() |
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Tesselations by hexagons
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In addition to the regular hexagon, which determines a unique tessellation of the plane, any irregular hexagon which satisfies the Conway criterion will tile the plane.
Hexagon inscribed in a conic section
Pascal's theorem (also known as the "Hexagrammum Mysticum Theorem") states that if an arbitrary hexagon is inscribed in any conic section, and pairs of opposite sides are extended until they meet, the three intersection points will lie on a straight line, the "Pascal line" of that configuration.
Cyclic hexagon
The Lemoine hexagon is a cyclic hexagon (one inscribed in a circle) with vertices given by the six intersections of the edges of a triangle and the three lines that are parallel to the edges that pass through its symmedian point.
If the successive sides of a cyclic hexagon are a, b, c, d, e, f, then the three main diagonals intersect in a single point if and only if ace = bdf.[3]
If, for each side of a cyclic hexagon, the adjacent sides are extended to their intersection, forming a triangle exterior to the given side, then the segments connecting the circumcenters of opposite triangles are concurrent.[4]
If a hexagon has vertices on the circumcircle of an acute triangle at the six points (including three triangle vertices) where the extended altitudes of the triangle meet the circumcircle, then the area of the hexagon is twice the area of the triangle.[5]:p. 179
Hexagon tangential to a conic section
Let ABCDEF be a hexagon formed by six tangent lines of a conic section. Then Brianchon's theorem states that the three main diagonals AD, BE, and CF intersect at a single point.
In a hexagon that is tangential to a circle and that has consecutive sides a, b, c, d, e, and f,[6]
Equilateral triangles on the sides of an arbitrary hexagon
If an equilateral triangle is constructed externally on each side of any hexagon, then the midpoints of the segments connecting the centroids of opposite triangles form another equilateral triangle.[7]:Thm. 1
Convex equilateral hexagon
A principal diagonal of a hexagon is a diagonal which divides the hexagon into quadrilaterals. In any convex equilateral hexagon (one with all sides equal) with common side a, there exists[8]:p.184,#286.3 a principal diagonal d1 such that
and a principal diagonal d2 such that
Petrie polygons
The regular hexagon is the Petrie polygon for these regular, uniform and dual polyhedra and polytopes, shown in these skew orthogonal projections:
3D | 4D | 5D | ||
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![]() Cube |
![]() Octahedron |
![]() 3-3 duoprism |
![]() 3-3 duopyramid |
![]() 5-simplex |
Polyhedra with hexagons
There is no Platonic solid made of only regular hexagons, because the hexagons tessellate, not allowing the result to "fold up". The Archimedean solids with some hexagonal faces are the truncated tetrahedron, truncated octahedron, truncated icosahedron (of soccer ball and fullerene fame), truncated cuboctahedron and the truncated icosidodecahedron. These hexagons can be considered truncated triangles, with Coxeter diagrams of the form and
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Tetrahedral | Octahedral | Icosahedral | ||
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![]() truncated tetrahedron |
![]() truncated octahedron |
![]() truncated cuboctahedron |
![]() truncated icosahedron |
![]() truncated icosidodecahedron |
There are other symmetry polyhedra with stretched or flattened hexagons, like these Goldberg polyhedron G(2,0):
Tetrahedral | Octahedral | Icosahedral |
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![]() Chamfered tetrahedron |
![]() Chamfered cube |
![]() Chamfered dodecahedron |
There are also 9 Johnson solids with regular hexagons:
![]() Hexagonal prism |
![]() Hexagonal antiprism |
![]() Hexagonal pyramid |
![]() Truncated triakis tetrahedron |
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Regular and uniform tilings with hexagons
Regular | 1-uniform | ||
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{6,3}![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
r{6,3}![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
rr{6,3}![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
tr{6,3}![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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2-uniform tilings | |||
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Hexagons: natural and human-made
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The ideal crystalline structure of graphene is a hexagonal grid.
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Assembled E-ELT mirror segments
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A beehive honeycomb
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The scutes of a turtle's carapace
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Benzene, the simplest aromatic compound with hexagonal shape.
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Crystal structure of a molecular hexagon composed of hexagonal aromatic rings reported by Müllen and coworkers in Chem. Eur. J., 2000, 1834-1839.
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Naturally formed basalt columns from Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland; large masses must cool slowly to form a polygonal fracture pattern
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An aerial view of Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas National Park
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The James Webb Space Telescope mirror is composed of 18 hexagonal segments.
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Metropolitan France has a vaguely hexagonal shape. In French, l'Hexagone refers to the European mainland of France aka the "métropole" as opposed to the overseas territories such as Guadeloupe, Martinique or French Guiana.
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Hexagonal Hanksite crystal, one of many hexagonal crystal system minerals
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The Hexagon, a hexagonal theatre in Reading, Berkshire
See also
- 24-cell: a four-dimensional figure which, like the hexagon, has orthoplex facets, is self-dual and tessellates Euclidean space
- Hexagonal crystal system
- Hexagonal number
- Hexagonal tiling: a regular tiling of hexagons in a plane
- Hexagram: 6-sided star within a regular hexagon
- Unicursal hexagram: single path, 6-sided star, within a hexagon
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
- ↑ John H. Conway, Heidi Burgiel, Chaim Goodman-Strauss, (2008) The Symmetries of Things, ISBN 978-1-56881-220-5 (Chapter 20, Generalized Schaefli symbols, Types of symmetry of a polygon pp. 275-278)
- ↑ Cartensen, Jens, "About hexagons", Mathematical Spectrum 33(2) (2000–2001), 37–40.
- ↑ Nikolaos Dergiades, "Dao's theorem on six circumcenters associated with a cyclic hexagon", Forum Geometricorum 14, 2014, 243--246. http://forumgeom.fau.edu/FG2014volume14/FG201424index.html
- ↑ Johnson, Roger A., Advanced Euclidean Geometry, Dover Publications, 2007 (orig. 1960).
- ↑ Gutierrez, Antonio, "Hexagon, Inscribed Circle, Tangent, Semiperimeter", [4], Accessed 2012-04-17.
- ↑ Dao Thanh Oai (2015), "Equilateral triangles and Kiepert perspectors in complex numbers", Forum Geometricorum 15, 105--114. http://forumgeom.fau.edu/FG2015volume15/FG201509index.html
- ↑ Inequalities proposed in “Crux Mathematicorum”, [5].
External links
- Weisstein, Eric W., "Hexagon", MathWorld.
- Definition and properties of a hexagon with interactive animation and construction with compass and straightedge.
- Cymatics – Hexagonal shapes occurring within water sound images[dead link]
- Cassini Images Bizarre Hexagon on Saturn
- Saturn's Strange Hexagon
- A hexagonal feature around Saturn's North Pole
- "Bizarre Hexagon Spotted on Saturn" – from Space.com (27 March 2007)
- supraHex A supra-hexagonal map for analysing high-dimensional omics data.