New to Planes, understanding them.

  • Context: High School 
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    Planes
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of planes in mathematics, particularly in relation to their dimensionality and application in real-world scenarios. Participants explore the nature of planes as two-dimensional entities and their relevance despite lacking physical thickness.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses confusion about the utility of planes, questioning how something with no thickness can be relevant or imagined.
  • Another participant compares planes to lines and points, emphasizing their dimensional properties: planes have length and width but no depth, while lines have only length and points have no dimensions.
  • A different perspective suggests visualizing a plane as an imaginary sheet that separates different regions of three-dimensional space.
  • One participant provides a practical example involving a sphere and the calculation of surface area for painting, illustrating how a two-dimensional surface can be applied in real-life situations despite its lack of thickness.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not appear to reach a consensus on the conceptual understanding of planes, with varying interpretations and examples presented. The discussion remains open-ended with multiple viewpoints expressed.

Contextual Notes

Some assumptions about the nature of dimensions and their applications in real-world contexts are present but not fully explored. The discussion does not resolve the foundational questions about the existence and utility of two-dimensional entities.

DOCMUR
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Hello

I'm a grade 12 math student at WCI and I need some help with planes.
As I understand it planes are 2D sections of grid. 2D sections of grid can't exist in real space because they have no thickness. How can anyone need to use something that has no thickness, why can we ever imagine it.
 
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it's just like a line. a cube has length, width & depth. a plane has length & width, but no depth. a line only has length, no width or depth. a point doesn't have anything.
 
think of it as a thin imaginary sheet of space dividing one side of a 3 dimensional space from another.
 
think of it this way:

say i have a sphere made of metal. i want to paint the surface of that sphere, but i want to know exactly how much paint i will need. well, the amount of paint that i need will be equal to the surface area of the sphere.

notice that the surface giving me my surface area is 2D. Of course, the paint will have some thickness, but the surface area does not.

so there is a real-life situation where 2D works. on paint cans you will usually find a table showing how much paint you will need (volume) for such-and-such square feet (area).
 

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