Notes on spherical geometry for MAT402 Ester Dalvit, October 7, 2014.

Disclaimer: these are “working notes” and may not be completely precise in some points. I will appreciate
if you point out mistakes. A good way to study them is to draw your pictures of the facts written here.
Many facts can be verified using the analytic geometry approach to Euclidean three dimensional geometry.
We will make a very basic use of them only in the beginning and do not want to use them explicitly in the
following.
Images come from various sources, including http://www.matematita.it/materiale/?p=cat and http://users.
libero.it/prof.lazzarini/geometria_sulla_sfera/geo.htm.

Online resources:
• A good reference is http://math.rice.edu/~pcmi/sphere/
• An applet to experiment and make drawings can be found at http://merganser.math.gvsu.edu/
easel/applet.html However, make sure you can do some drawings by hand to ensure you under-
stand!
• An applet to compare distances on a world map and great circles: http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/
frames_asid_308_g_3_t_3.html

A sphere can be thought as the skin of a ball. Note that the sphere lives in R3 but is two dimensional: the
interior is not part of the sphere.
Definition 1. Given a point P in R3 and a length r > 0, the sphere of center P and radius r is the locus
of points in R3 having distance r from P .
Our aim is to study geometry on a sphere; it is not important where our sphere is located in R3 and what is
its radius because we can move our sphere to any position via a translation and we can rescale it to any size
via a homogeneous dilation (homothety).1 Both transformations preserve all the properties we are interested
in (incidence, area of figures with respect to the area of the sphere etc), so it is not restrictive to assume that
the center of the sphere is the origin O (point with coordinates (0, 0, 0)) and the radius is r = 1. Thus we
will say “the sphere” instead of “a sphere” and characterize its points as the set {(x, y, z)|x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1}.
We will write S2 for the sphere.
A line in R3 intersects the sphere in either:
• no points, e.g. take the line given by x = y = 5.
• one point, e.g. the line x = 1, y = 0.
• two points, e.g. the line x = 0, y = 0.5 or the line x = y = 0.
Definition 2. Note that in the last case, the second line passes through O and gives two points with maximal
distance. They are “opposite”, like the North and South pole. Any pair of such points are called antipodal.
A plane intersects the sphere in either:
• no points, e.g. take the plane given by x = 5.
• one point, e.g. the plane x = 1.
• a circle, e.g. the plane x = 0.5 or x = 0.

Figure 1. Intersections of a plane and a sphere.

1We will talk more about transformations during the course.
2

Definition 3. Note that in the last case, the second plane passes through O and the circle has maximal
radius: any such circle will be called great circle.
So any line in R3 through O gives a pair of points on the sphere and any plane in R3 through O gives a great
circle.

We are going to construct a geometry, whose points are the points on the sphere and whose lines are the
great circles.
The tools to construct will be compass and straightedge. Compass works very much like the Euclidean one
(or as a plane intersecting the sphere), the straightedge can be imagined as a circular tool with the same
radius as the sphere (or as a plane through O).
Exercise 4. Approximate the Earth by a sphere. Are meridians lines in spherical geometry? Why?
Are parallels lines in spherical geometry? Why?
From now on, we talk of points and lines on the sphere (not in Euclidean 3d geometry): point means point
on the sphere, line means great circle. In case we need both concepts we specify the adjectives Euclidean or
spherical.
Exercise 5. The axioms of Euclidean geometry (cf. Stillwell page 43) are not all valid in this context. We
have to modify some of them.
Make sure you understand each of the axioms of Incidence and Betweenness, also using pictures and examples.
Compare the Euclidean version with the spherical one.
I1. For any two non antipodal points A, B there is a unique line through A and B. What happens if
A, B are antipodal?
I2. Any line contains at least two points.
I3. There exist three points not all on the same line.
I4. There are no parallel lines: any two line intersect (in how many points?).
B1. If A ∗ B ∗ C then A, B, C are three points on a line and C ∗ B ∗ A.
B2. For any two points A, B there is a point C with A ∗ C ∗ B.
B3. Of three points on a line, any is between the other two.
B4. As in Euclidean geometry.
Wish. We would like to define a segment given the two endpoints on a line. Draw a picture and find what
happens! This motivates the following definition and discussion.
Definition 6. A segment is any of the two parts in which two points on a line divide the line.

Figure 2. A segment and the angle to measure its length.

 3

Definition 7. Given a segment of endpoints A and B, consider the plane π through A, B, O (convince
yourself that it exists and is unique if A, B non antipodal). The length of the segment is the angle ∠AOB
measured in Euclidean geometry on the plane π. We measure it in radians.
Segments with the same length will be called congruent.
Exercise 8. Define the distance of two points.
Exercise 9. What happens if A, B are antipodal? How many segments can you draw with endpoints A, B?
What is their length?
Note that we used the measure of angles in 2d Euclidean geometry to define (distance of points and) measure
of segments in spherical geometry.
Remark 10. With this definition we include “half lines” into the set of segments.
An equivalent way to define a segment is to use three points on a line: given A, B, C on a line, we can define
the segment of endpoints A, B and containing C in the obvious way.
Remark 11. Note that segments can not be indefinitely extended: lines have a finite length since they
correspond to a planar angle of 2π in O.
Exercise 12. Why is there no need of defining a ray in spherical geometry?
Definition 13. A semisphere is each of the two parts of S2 in which a line divides it.
This is analogous to the definition of semiplanes in Euclidean geometry.
Again, to identify a semisphere we need a line and a point not on the line (which tells us which of the two
semispheres we are considering).
Definition 14. An angle is the intersection of two semispheres.
Equivalently, given two lines and a point not on any of them, we can define the angle as the region of the
sphere having those lines as sides and containing the point.
Unlike in Euclidean geometry, an angle will have two vertices!
How to measure an angle having a vertex P and sides l and m (in particular one of the intersections of l and
m is P ). Consider the Euclidean 3d setting: there is a plane π tangent to the sphere in P . The Euclidean
lines L, M that are tangent to l and m in P are both in the plane π. We define the (spherical) angle between
l and m to be the (Euclidean) angle between L and M (it is an angle in plane π).

Figure 3. Angles are measured on the tangent planes.

Exercise 15. Define a perpendicular line to a give line or segment. Describe a construction of it using
compass and straightedge.
Definition 16. A circle is the set of points with a fixed distance r (radius) from a fixed point C (center).
4

Note that the definition is exactly as in the Euclidean case, but the distance is calculated on the sphere.
Thus even though the (spherical) circle is a circle also in Euclidean 3d geometry, the (spherical) radius is
not the Euclidean one! In figure 4 the circle has center A and radius r (the legth of the segment AB); the
circle is also a Euclidean circle in R3 , in this context it has center A0 and radius r0 .

Figure 4. A (spherical) circle is also a Euclidean circle in space.

Exercise 17. Consider figure 5. Note that a circle will have two centers. How are they related? What is
the relation between the radii?

Figure 5. Circles and their radius.

Now we can consider the other axioms listed in the textbook. The axioms of congruence, the Archimedean
axiom and the one on incidence of circles all hold.
Dedekind Axiom does not hold in the form on the book, but a similar axiom is needed. You may think of a
“local version” of D, taking a segment instead of a line. It is used to ensure that the Euclidean line “has no
gaps”; the same has to hold for any great circle on the sphere.
Exercise 18. Say how figures 6 and 7 are examples of differences between Euclidean and spherical geometry.

Figure 6. Three points on a line.

 5

Figure 7. Line through a given point perpendicular to a given line.

Exercise 19. Note that angles are “closed”: any angle defines a “polygon with two sides”, called lune or
bigon (2-gon). Calculate the area of a lune give its angle.
Definition 20. A triangle is the intersection of three semispheres.
Note that this definition implies that each triangle is contained in one semisphere. The complementary
region is then not a triangle even if it has three sides.
Exercise 21. Justify or give a counterexample to the following statement: the sum of the length of any two
sides in a triangle is greater than the length of the other side.
Exercise 22. Draw (either concretely on a balloon or on an online applet or on a piece of paper or in your
imagination) a line l on the sphere, divide it into six congruent segments finding points A, B, C, D, E, F and
draw lines perpendicular to l through A, B, C, D, E, F . Consider one of the regions you obtain. What is it?
Measure its angles.
Congruence criteria for triangles: SAS, ASA, SSS and... AAA! That is, there is no notion of similarity on
the sphere: any two similar triangles are also congruent. [The reason is the existence of polar triangles and
duality sides-angles].
Exercise 23. Given a triangle of vertices A, B, C. Draw (as before) the lines through any pair of vertices.
Consider the region “opposite” to the triangle. It is called the antipodal triangle. Show that it is congruent
to triangle ABC.
Exercise 24. Is SAAS a congruence criterion for triangles?
Exercise 25. Prove that in any isosceles triangle (having two congruent sides) two angles are congruent.
Exercise 26. • Define an equilateral triangle.
• Describe a construction of an equilateral triangle. Note: the usual one works. You can also consider
a “central” construction: start with a point P and draw three angles of 2π/3 with P as vertex.
Choose points A, B, C on the angle sides with a fixed distance from P .
• Draw two equilateral triangles with different side lengths (you may use the second construction).
Are they similar? Are they congruent?
Exercise 27. What can the sum of the angles in a triangle be?
Remark 28. As polygons become smaller and smaller, they will be more and more similar to Euclidean
ones: think of a soccer field. It lies on the Earth surface, which can be approximated by a sphere. But the
better geometry to describe the field is the Euclidean one, since we are considering a small portion of the
spherical surface, such that it can be approximated by a plane. Compare figure 8.

Exercise 29. Describe the construction of a square. What can the sum of the angles in a square be?
Exercise 30. Read and understand the proof of the formula for the area of triangles (Girard’s theorem)
given in http://math.rice.edu/~pcmi/sphere/gos4.html or write your own proof (you may find figure 9
useful).
6

Figure 8. ε is the spherical eccess, i.e. sum of the angles minus π

Figure 9. Each triangle defines three lunes. Observing the intersections the formula for
the area of the triangle can be deduced.

Exercise 31. Calculate perimeter and area of a triangle with angles π/2, π/2 and 2π/3.
Exercise 32. Can you give a formula for the area of a polygon given its angles?
Recall what a regular tiling of the plane is: a way of placing congruent regular polygons on the plane such
that any two of them intersect at either no point, one vertex, or one whole side and such that all the plane
is covered.
Similarly we can define regular tilings on the sphere: a regular spherical polygon is a polygon with all angles
congruent and all sides congruent.
Remark 33. In the plane (i.e. in Euclidean geometry) for any n ∈ N all regular n-gons are similar.
In spherical geometry for any n ∈ N there are regular n-gons that are not congruent. Can you think of an
example?
Exercise 34. Describe regular tilings by 2-gons.
Remark 35. It turns out that there are a finite number of regular tilings (by n-gons with n > 2) of the
sphere and that these correspond to regular solids of Euclidean three dimensional geometry. See figure 10
and/or the animation at http://www.matematita.it/materiale/?p=cat&sc=514&im=10834 (it works in
Linux with Wine and in Windows).
 7

Figure 10. Regular tilings of the sphere and regular Euclidean solids. Duality should be
visible here!

Exercise 36. Describe a construction for the regular hexagon.

Is it possible to tile the sphere by regular hexagons?
Bonus. On a reusable balloon (or a plastic sphere or any other suitable object) draw a regular tiling and
its dual and give the object to the instructor.
Note: the dual tiling T ∗ of a tiling T is obtained by taking the center of each polygon of T as vertex of T ∗
and by connecting two vertices in T ∗ if the corresponding polygons in T intersect in one whole side.