A triangle is one of the most fundamental shapes in Geometry. This shape has 3 vertices, 3 edges, and 3 faces. It’s a 2D shape usually defined as a closed figure with 3 straight lines.

Triangles are probably the most studied shape in Geometry. This is primarily due to its usefulness across many areas of science and engineering. Still, it also makes sense because triangles are relatively simple shapes to understand too.

The earliest uses of triangles can be traced back to Mesopotamian cultures. They used a simple form of geometry called plane geometry, which mainly focused on studying triangles and drawing straight lines.

Their most important discovery was that the angle opposite the longest side is always a right angle (90°). This means that if you have an “L” shape where one of the sides is diagonal, the remaining two sides must always be the same length.

The word “triangle” comes from the Greek tritÃ-¡n, meaning “three.” Triangles are one of the most common shapes in geometry, art, and nature. They play a starring role in many areas of math (3-dimensional projects like pyramids, cones, cylinders), physics (waves), and biology (DNA).

Triangles are a common theme in art as well. Using the fact that triangles can be used to create images, some artists have been able to create complex pieces using this simple shape. For example, try drawing a triangle on paper and look at how many different forms you can turn it into by changing the shading.

Blind children use triangles to read and write Braille, a tactile writing system for the visually impaired. Braille comprises 6 raised dots that can be arranged to create different letters and words. Each dot represents a letter (for example, “A” has two raised dots). Still, there are only 6 dots, and there are also only 6 possible combinations. These combinations can be arranged to create the Braille alphabet, then used to read and write messages.