Reuleaux Triangle
- Author:
- Reese Koppel
Reuleaux Triangle
The Reuleaux Triangle is a triangle with round edges and each of the edges are of equal length. The Reuleaux Rotor is used for the tip of a drill bit. What makes it special is it can (very nearly) be rotated inside of a square.Arc e, arc i, and arc j will always be the same length, because of how the Reuleaux Triangle is constructed.
Drag point B around. This will show you how the segments always remain equal to each other, no matter the size of the circle.
Click the box in the bottom left hand corner to turn the Reuleaux Rotor on and off.
Move point C around. This shows the rotation that the triangle makes, which can cover nearly every point in a square that the triangle fits perfectly into.
Look right below to see how the Reuleaux Triangle rolls!
Beneath the rotor, there are some questions that you should think about when playing with the rotor. Give them a shot!