Talk:Point (geometry)

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Mathematics rating:	Stub Class	High Priority	Field: Basics
Please update this rating as the article progresses, or if the rating is inaccurate. Click to show/hide comments. Please add to or update the comments to suggest improvements to the article. This is a basic concept, but the article desperately needs improvement and expansion. Geometry guy 00:41, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dimension?

Since we know that a line has length and curvature, it is a 2 dimensional entity. We also know that a point has no length, so therefore it must have infinite curvature, making it a 1 dimensional entity. --anon

Your definition of "dimension" is wrong. It is not about length or curvature, rather, about how many variables control the object in question. For a line, one variable is enough, so it is one dimensional. The curvature and length have to do with where the line is embedded. If you take it that way, a line has three dimensions, which are length, slope, and curvature. No? Oleg Alexandrov (talk) 10:03, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

Uhm, rather four "dimensions". At least if you add torsion, too... ;D \Mike(z) 10:25, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Doesn't it seem strange that a point can have 0 dimensions ? When you think of it, it's like it's nothing. I think I challenge that fact. This doesn't mean that I am going to change the article.--Granpire Viking Man 22:20, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

Strange, but true. It is nothing. Quite simply, it's something with no volume, area, or even length, which makes it a nonexistent physical entity (or at least an infinitely small one). If you challenge the existence of points, by a similar notion you could challenge the existence of many limits, and by extension all of calculus. Disbelieving points is like disbelieving math. Liempt 14:29, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

Equally strange to me that a line segment can have one dimension. A line is nothing also in the 3 dimensional world. Well, I just think of degrees of freedom - no where to go if you're stuck on a point in space. Tom Ruen 01:20, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

This is not really strange when you realize the important difference between an entity and a concept. --Profero 11:59, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Random, but must ask...

I'll admit, I've been puzzling about this. Could it be that a line has dimensions surrounding a coordinate, such as the Height of a point is equal to the limit of (any) function of X as the change in (any values) X approaches zero? Sure, it doesn't really say anything except that its height is really really small, but does it seem at all significant? I was just thinking about this along the applications of single-point-energy, but the only person I've ever asked of yet has been my Calc. teacher.. --Kazarian 24.176.171.123