this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2025
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[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 2 points 53 minutes ago

Not a polygon

[–] PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 hours ago

I'm not a math major, but I always considered it that a square is a special case of rectangle, a rectangle is a special case of parallelogram, and a parallelogram a special case of a quadrilateral, a quadrilateral a special case of a simple polygon.

This shape isn't a polygon, so it cannot be a square.

[–] hikaru755@lemmy.world 14 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)
[–] Quadhammer@lemmy.world 17 points 15 hours ago

Rotate the cone towards you.

Now you see this. 🤯

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 42 points 18 hours ago (3 children)

Oh let's get pedantic!

The curved edges technically have infinite "side".

[–] PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Hey, that's my job!

Also I don't think that's technically the technical classification. I think that sidedness is an attribute that simply doesnt apply to curves.
You can approximate curves with some number of sides, and the approximation gets more accurate as the number approaches infinity, but it doesn't actually have the infinite sides.

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 1 points 1 hour ago

Very cool! I'm always happy to learn something new!

[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 24 points 16 hours ago (3 children)

....and a square has four interior 90 degree angles.

...and based on the infinite number of sides for a curved line aspect, the "90 degree" angles would all be +/- the limit as it approaches zero, so never truly 90 degrees but always an infinite fraction away.

[–] jwmgregory@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 4 hours ago

the angles are interior if you go into the scary world of high level maths and their weird fucking geometries.

this is a square, from a certain point of view

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 5 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Someone knows more calculus than they are letting on...

[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 4 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Hey, I failed the highest level of calculus possible. Twice.

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 2 points 1 hour ago

I'll have you know that I passed the two lowest levels of calculus required for my degree. So you know, I'm something of an expert.

[–] olafurp@lemmy.world 4 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

Yeah, we gonna need more rigor on this one.

"A square is a shape made up of four equally long lines a, b, c, d where a is perpendicular to c and d and parallel to b. Each of these lines meet exactly two other lines at it's ends."

I'm not a mathematician so there might an odd case somewhere in there. Maybe it has to be confined to a shared plane?

[–] sneezycat@sopuli.xyz 2 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Lines are infinitely long... do you mean line segments?

Wikipedia has a good enough definition: "It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles." Nice and simple.

[–] olafurp@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

Pentagon fits that definition also since it doesn't specify "it has four and only four" sides

[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 1 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

So you're saying this is the outline of a square in the astral plane? Because it sounds like you're saying this is a square in the astral plane.

[–] olafurp@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

No, just a 2d plane

[–] danhab99@programming.dev 10 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Not if this square is a projection of a curved surface

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 5 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

If it is a projection, then there are more than two curved sides, which also begs credence to the interpretability of the angles they intersect.

[–] danhab99@programming.dev 3 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

Well angles between 3 points are always going to be angles. If your choose a different configuration of dimensional parameters you can effectively project a square from the 2D plane into this exact shape, then logically the angles would follow.

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 3 points 16 hours ago

You lost me at 3 points. Could you dumb it down a bit?

Yo bro let's downscale everything to 2D then upscale it to infinity or something, everything is possible when you project to this demonic crystal justttt this way /s

[–] taxiiiii@lemmy.world 7 points 14 hours ago

Diogenes go home.

[–] throwawayacc0430@sh.itjust.works 14 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (8 children)

Wrong. This is a definition of a [pizza] + [the extra peperoni from the other slices that got stuck to that slice because the cutting was imperfect]

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[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 4 points 14 hours ago (1 children)
[–] owl@infosec.pub 1 points 13 hours ago

Didn't a square need broad nails or something?

[–] joel_feila@lemmy.world 82 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The interior angles need to be equal 🤓

[–] FUsername@feddit.org 1 points 1 hour ago

Here you can see how things go haywire when skipping minor parts of definitions.

[–] JackFrostNCola@aussie.zone 8 points 19 hours ago

Tut tut, all these maths books promoting unhealthy square shapes, real squares have curves.

[–] TORFdot0@lemmy.world 7 points 19 hours ago
[–] burgersc12@mander.xyz 54 points 1 day ago (29 children)

Does no one understand this is a joke, talking about parallel lines and mathematical proofs is pointless when its a fucking meme

[–] dontbelievethis@sh.itjust.works 34 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

It's not pointless because you can laugh about a joke and then learn something about math.

They don't cancel each other out. They can be at the same place and still work on their own.

[–] weird@sub.wetshaving.social 16 points 20 hours ago

I love memes that are funny on their own, but also provide discussion material.

[–] Tja@programming.dev 8 points 19 hours ago

You're having fun wrong!!1one

[–] outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 21 hours ago

Or the fun part.

[–] the_trash_man@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Its wrong though so the joke falls flat

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[–] CaptainBlagbird@lemmy.world 9 points 21 hours ago

Thanks, I hate it.

[–] TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works 157 points 1 day ago (10 children)

Straight lines. Also two sets of parallel lines. This is one definition of a square, but not the common one.

[–] Snazz@lemmy.world 2 points 15 hours ago

This shape could exist as a projection onto an upright cylinder, wrapping around the cylinder. The two straight edges go vertically along opposite sides of the cylinder. The curved lines wrap around the circumference. The lines are now straight and parallel on the net of the cylinder.

But we can go further: Imagine taking this cylinder and extending it. Wrap it into a loop by connecting the top to the bottom so it forms a torus (doughnut) shape. This connects both sides of the shape, now all “interior” angles are on the inside of the square, and all “exterior” angles are on the outside. The inside and outside just happen to be the same side.

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[–] umbrella@lemmy.ml 33 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

ITT: math people going "listen here you little shit"

[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 121 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Someone never had to deal with mathematical proofs, only layman's definitions.

All properties of a parallelogram apply:

  • Opposite sides are parallel
  • Opposite sides are congruent
  • Opposite angles are congruent
  • Consecutive angles are supplementary
  • Diagonals bisect each other

AND

  • All angles are congruent
  • All sides are congruent
  • Diagonals are congruent
  • Diagonals are perpendicular
  • Diagonals bisect opposite angles
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[–] Pulptastic@midwest.social 39 points 1 day ago (5 children)

A square must also have two pairs of parallel sides.

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