# Defect (geometry)

﻿
Defect (geometry)

In geometry, the (angular) defect (or deficit or deficiency) means the failure of some angles to add up to the expected amount of 360° or 180°, when such angles in the plane would. The opposite notion is the excess.

Classically the defect arises in two ways:

and the excess arises in one way:

• the excess of a spherical triangle.

In the plane, angles about a point add up to 360°, while interior angles in a triangle add up to 180° (equivalently, exterior angles add up to 360°). However, on a convex polyhedron the angles at a vertex on average add up to less than 360°, on a spherical triangle the interior angles always add up to more than 180° (the exterior angles add up to less than 360°), and the angles in a hyperbolic triangle always add up to less than 180° (the exterior angles add up to more than 360°).

In modern terms, the defect at a vertex or over a triangle (with a minus) is precisely the curvature at that point or the total (integrated) over the triangle, as established by the Gauss–Bonnet theorem.

## Defect of a vertex

The defect of a vertex of a polyhedron is the amount by which the sum of the angles of the faces at the vertex falls short of a full circle. If the sum of the angles exceeds a full circle, as occurs in some vertices of most (not all) non-convex polyhedra, then the defect is negative. If a polyhedron is convex, then the defects of all of its vertices are positive.

The concept of defect extends to higher dimensions as the amount by which the sum of the dihedral angles of the cells at a peak falls short of a full circle.

(According to the Oxford English Dictionary, one of the senses of the word "defect" is "The quantity or amount by which anything falls short; in Math. a part by which a figure or quantity is wanting or deficient.")

## Examples

The defect of any of the vertices of a regular dodecahedron (in which three regular pentagons meet at each vertex) is 36°, or π/5 radians, or 1/10 of a circle. Each of the angles is 108°; three of these meet at each vertex, so the defect is 360° − (108° + 108° + 108°) = 36°.

The same procedure can be followed for the other Platonic solids

Shape Number of vertices Polygons meeting at each vertex Defect at each vertex Total defect
tetrahedron 4 Three equilateral triangles $\pi\,$ $4\pi\,$
octahedron 6 Four equilateral triangles ${2 \pi\over 3}$ $4\pi\,$
cube 8 Three squares ${\pi\over 2}$ $4\pi\,$
icosahedron 12 Five equilateral triangles ${\pi\over 3}$ $4\pi\,$
dodecahedron 20 Three regular pentagons ${\pi\over 5}$ $4\pi\,$

## Descartes' theorem

Descartes' theorem on the "total defect" of a polyhedron states that if the polyhedron is homeomorphic to a sphere (i.e. topologically equivalent to a sphere, so that it may be deformed into a sphere by stretching without tearing), the "total defect", i.e. the sum of the defects of all of the vertices, is two full circles (or 720° or 4π radians). The polyhedron need not be convex.[1]

A generalization says the number of circles in the total defect equals the Euler characteristic of the polyhedron. This is a special case of the Gauss–Bonnet theorem which relates the integral of the Gaussian curvature to the Euler characteristic. Here the Gaussian curvature is concentrated at the vertices: on the faces and edges the Gaussian curvature is zero and the Gaussian curvature at a vertex is equal to the defect there.

This can be used to calculate the number V of vertices of a polyhedron by totaling the angles of all the faces, and adding the total defect. This total will have one complete circle for every vertex in the polyhedron. Care has to be taken to use the correct Euler characteristic for the polyhedron.

## A potential error

It is tempting to think that every non-convex polyhedron has some vertices whose defect is negative. Here is a counterexample. Consider a cube where one face is replaced by a square pyramid: this elongated square pyramid is convex and the defects at each vertex are each positive. Now consider the same cube where the square pyramid goes into the cube: this is non-convex, but the defects remain the same and so are all positive.

Negative defect indicates that the vertex resembles a saddle point, whereas positive defect indicates that the vertex resembles a local maximum or minimum.

## References

1. ^ Descartes, René, "Progymnasmata de solidorum elementis", in Oeuvres de Descartes, vol. X, pp. 265–276

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

### Look at other dictionaries:

• Defect — Defect, defects, or defected may refer to: Geometry and physical sciences Defect (geometry), a characteristic of a polyhedron Topological defect Isoperimetric defect Crystallographic defect, a structural imperfection in a crystal Biology and… …   Wikipedia

• geometry — /jee om i tree/, n. 1. the branch of mathematics that deals with the deduction of the properties, measurement, and relationships of points, lines, angles, and figures in space from their defining conditions by means of certain assumed properties… …   Universalium

• Hyperbolic geometry — Lines through a given point P and asymptotic to line R. A triangle immersed in a saddle shape plane (a hyperbolic paraboloid), as well as two diverging ultraparall …   Wikipedia

• Whitehead's point-free geometry — In mathematics, point free geometry is a geometry whose primitive ontological notion is region rather than point. Two axiomatic systems are set out below, one grounded in mereology, the other in mereotopology and known as connection theory… …   Wikipedia

• Systolic geometry — In mathematics, systolic geometry is the study of systolic invariants of manifolds and polyhedra, as initially conceived by Charles Loewner, and developed by Mikhail Gromov and others, in its arithmetic, ergodic, and topological manifestations.… …   Wikipedia

• Introduction to systolic geometry — Systolic geometry is a branch of differential geometry, a field within mathematics, studying problems such as the relationship between the area inside a closed curve C , and the length or perimeter of C . Since the area A may be small while the… …   Wikipedia

• List of geometry topics — This is list of geometry topics, by Wikipedia page.*Geometric shape covers standard terms for plane shapes *List of mathematical shapes covers all dimensions *List of differential geometry topics *List of geometers *See also list of curves, list… …   Wikipedia

• List of mathematics articles (D) — NOTOC D D distribution D module D D Agostino s K squared test D Alembert Euler condition D Alembert operator D Alembert s formula D Alembert s paradox D Alembert s principle Dagger category Dagger compact category Dagger symmetric monoidal… …   Wikipedia

• René Descartes — Descartes redirects here. For other uses, see Descartes (disambiguation). René Descartes Portrait after Frans Ha …   Wikipedia

• Solide de Platon — En géométrie euclidienne, un solide de Platon est un polyèdre régulier et convexe. Entre les polygones réguliers et convexes de la géométrie plane, et les polyèdres réguliers convexes de l’espace à trois dimensions, il y a une analogie, mais… …   Wikipédia en Français