Spherical Triangle

A spherical triangle is a figure formed on the surface of a sphere by three great circular arcs intersecting pairwise in
three vertices. The spherical triangle is the spherical analog of the planar triangle, and is sometimes called an Euler
triangle (Harris and Stocker 1998). Let a spherical triangle have angles , , and (measured in radians at the
vertices along the surface of the sphere) and let the sphere on which the spherical triangle sits have radius . Then
the surface area of the spherical triangle is

where is called the spherical excess, with in the degenerate case of a planar triangle.

The sum of the angles of a spherical triangle is between and radians ( and ; Zwillinger 1995,
p. 469). The amount by which it exceeds is called the spherical excess and is denoted or , the latter of
which can cause confusion since it also can refer to the surface area of a spherical triangle. The difference
between radians ( ) and the sum of the side arc lengths , , and is called the spherical defect and is
denoted or .

On any sphere, if three connecting arcs are drawn, two triangles are created. If each triangle takes up one
hemisphere, then they are equal in size, but in general there will be one larger and one smaller. Any spherical triangle
can therefore be considered both an inner and outer triangle, with the inner triangle usually being assumed. The sum
of the angles of an outer spherical triangle is between and radians.

The study of angles and distances of figures on a sphere is known as spherical trigonometry.

Spherical triangle - Sides and Angles

Take a sphere with radius = 1 centered at origin. The intersection of the sphere and a
plane which passes through the center point of the sphere is called a great circle. An
area on the sphere with radius one, bounded by three arcs of great circles is called a
spherical triangle.
The sides of the spherical triangle ABC are a, b and c.

The measure of the side a, b and c are respectively the lengths of the arcs BC, CA and
AB.

The angle A of the spherical triangle ABC is the angle between the tangent lines to the
sides AC and AB in point A. The angles A, B and C are usually expressed in radians.

Cosine rule for spherical triangles

Relationship between the three sides and an angle. One can prove that

cos a = cos b cos c + sin b sin c cos A (1)

cos b = cos c cos a + sin c sin a cos B (2)
cos c = cos a cos b + sin a sin b cos C (3)

The polar triangle of a spherical triangle

Each circle on the sphere has two poles.

The great circle which contains B and C has two poles. Let A1 be the pole which is
together with A in the same hemisphere. Define B1 and C1 analogously. The
spherical triangle A1B1C1 is called the polar triangle of the spherical triangle ABC.

One can prove that each side of one of the triangles and the corresponding angle of the
other triangle are supplementary.
a + A1 = b + B1 = c + C1 = a1 + A = b1 + B = c1 + C = pi. (4)

Relationship between the three angles and an side.

Apply the formula (1) to the polar triangle A1B1C1. Then

cos a1 = cos b1 cos c1 + sin b1 sin c1 cos A1

By (4) and after simplification, we obtain

cos A = - cos B cos C + sin B sin C cos a

We obtain a similar form with formulas (2) and (3).

cos A = - cos B cos C + sin B sin C cos a

cos B = - cos C cos A + sin C sin A cos b
cos C = - cos A cos B + sin A sin B cos c

Sine rule for spherical triangles

We start from the formula cos a = cos b cos c + sin b sin c cos A. It follows

cos a - cos b cos c

cos A = ------------------------
sin b sin c

thus

sin2 A = 1- cos2 A

sin2 b sin2 c - ( cos a - cos b cos c )2

= ------------------------------------------------
sin2 b sin2 c

(1-cos2 b)(1-cos2 c) - ( cos a - cos b cos c )2

= --------------------------------------------------------
sin2 b sin2 c

1 - cos2 a - cos2 b - cos2 c + 2 cos a cos b cos c

= -------------------------------------------------------
sin2 b sin2 c

sin2 A 1 - cos2 a - cos2 b - cos2 c + 2 cos a cos b cos c

--------- = --------------------------------------------------------
sin2 a sin2 a sin2 b sin2 c
The right hand side is symmetrical to a, b and c. So, we have
 sin2 A sin2 B sin2 C
--------- = --------- = ----------
sin2 a sin2 b sin2 c
The values of the sides and the angles of a spherical triangle are between 0 and pi.
Each sine is positive. So, we have

sin A sin B sin C

--------- = --------- = ----------
sin a sin b sin c