Talk:Barycentric coordinates (mathematics)

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[edit] Barycentric coordinates on triangles

I would like to discuss the appropriateness of this example to illustrate the use of barycentric coordinates relative to a triangle. I have been using barycentric coordinates off-and-on for some time, and there are many geometric uses which are much more accessible. Moreover, the use of baycentric coordinates is independent of calculus. I feel the example does not really aid the understanding of barycentric coordinates relative to a triangle.

[edit] Trilinear coordinates

"Trilinear coordinates" redirects to "barycentric coordinates", but they're not the same thing. Essentially, if I put three masses (m,p,q) at the vertices of a given triangle, the point described by those barycentric coordinates is the center of mass of that system. On the other hand, trilinear coordinates describe the relative distances from the three sides of a given triangle. See for example, the Mathworld page on trilinear coordinates.

Another example: the centroid in barycentric coords is (1,1,1). On the other hand, the incenter in trilinear coordinates is (1,1,1). Lunch 23:22, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

Errr, nevermind. I changed the redirect myself. But there's still a stub there if anyone wants to embellish it... Lunch 23:48, 1 September 2006 (UTC)