Definition:Prismatic Surface

Definition

A prismatic surface is a surface which is generated by all the straight lines which are:

parallel to a given straight line

and:

which intersect a broken line which is not in the same plane as the given straight line.

Let $\SS$ denote a prismatic surface.

Directrix

The directrix of $\SS$ is the broken line which the parallel straight lines all intersect.

Generators

The generators of $\SS$ are parallel straight lines which intersect the directrix of $\SS$.

Closed Prismatic Surface

A closed prismatic surface is a prismatic surface whose directrix is a closed polygon.

Also see

• Results about prismatic surfaces can be found here.

Sources

• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): prismatic surface
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): prismatic surface