I'm looking for the name of a shape that is like a capsule, but where each circle can have different radii. The shape could be described using two circles (two centers and two radii). Something like this (this is a 2D shape, not a lame attempt at 3D):
What is the name for a shape that is like a capsule, but with two different radii?
7
$\begingroup$
geometry
terminology
circles
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3 Answers
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You can just say it is the convex hull of two circles.
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0Yeah that's a simpler definition. A name would be cool though, as I'd like to use it as the name of a class in a program and ConvexHullOfTwoCircles is not too catchy. – 2010-07-31
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5What about Pear? – 2010-07-31
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1It looks like a pulley and belt system, so how about PulleyBeltShape? – 2010-07-31
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0I'm accepting this because the shape doesn't seem to have a name and this is a helpful definition. – 2010-07-31
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1@Qiaochu Haha, Pear's not bad but, if you're into fruits, Avocado seems more fit! – 2010-07-31
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Here is an article at Mathworld on Circle-Circle Tangents. Perhaps "CirclesWithTangents"?
(source: wolfram.com)
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0Hmm... not too sure for the name, but thanks for that article, it should be helpful with what I intend to do with this shape. – 2010-07-31
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0@Dennis Williamson Circle with Direct tangents – 2014-09-05
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I would suggest the name "Capsuloid". I had the same question but in $3D$. One could define the capsuloid ratio as the quotient of smallest radius $r$ to biggest radius $R$. $r\over{R}$ belongs to $[0,1]$, a value of $1$ corresponding to a true capsule.
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0Please use Mathjax – 2017-07-18
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0Oh great I didn't know it was available! Super noob here :) Thanks! – 2017-07-19