10 Real Life Examples of a Plane in Geometry

A plane is any flat surface with two dimensions that are extended infinitely.

 It has zero thickness, zero curvature, and its width and length are infinite in extent.  This means it has no borders or edges and so you can’t see the whole of the plane at any point.

To help you visualize a geometrical plane, you can use a coordinate plane. The plot can help you mentally picture a plane that can be represented on a graph that lies on the XY axis.

From any point of this plane, the dimensions can be extended forever.

There is no true example in real life that exists but we can use surfaces of everyday things to illustrate it such as any flat closed 2-dimensional plane shapes.

For example squares, trapeziums, triangles, rectangles are all examples of plane shapes.

Parallelograms, kites, and rhombuses are also planes.

Plane geometry is built up from lines, points, and circles as its building blocks.

What Makes It A Plane?

Planes should satisfy some properties for them to be considered planes.

There are grouped into two main categories:

• Parallel planes never touch one another when they are held at the same distance separating them.

•  When two planes (such as two books) are allowed to intersect, they should do so at one single line.

So, any two different planes should either intersect each other in a straight line or lie parallel to each other.

We Can Have Plane Shapes That Are:

• Polygons which include diamonds, stars, pentagons, rectangles, squares, or triangles.

• Quadrilaterals which are a special type of polygon that are 2-dimensional shapes and have 4 straight sides. These sides are closed so that they don’t have open sides.

Let’s take a look at 10 real life examples of planes in geometry.

1. Rhombus Examples

A rhombus plane shape is both a parallelogram and a quadrilateral (4 sided figure).

It has a closed shape and is 2 dimensional. All its sides are equal.

Examples of real-life rhombus plane figures include a diamond, an earring, and a kite. 

2. Circle Examples

Circle planes have a round shape and their radius stays constant from a fixed central point.

Common examples in life include dinner plates, cookies, pancakes, the faces of clocks, pizza, and bike wheels.

3. Square Examples

Squares are identified from their property of having four right angles and four sides which are all equal to each other.

Some examples include square rubber stamps, chess boards, walls, virtual keyboard keys, square tiles of a floor, and square paper napkins.

Squares are also considered a special type of rhombus.

4. Rectangle Examples

Rectangles are similar to squares in that they have four right angles and four straight sides.

The difference is that it has two sides that are longer than the other two.

Examples of rectangle plane shapes that we meet every day in life include cell phones, dollar bills, ceilings, chapter cover books, certain ice cream sandwiches, certain picture frames, whiteboards, and chalkboards.

5.  Pentagon Examples

Some well-known examples of pentagon shapes include the US Pentagon building, traffic crossing signs, and the black areas of soccer ball skins.

Pentagon plane shapes are recognized from their having five equal straight sides.

Pentagons aren’t quite as common as quadrilaterals.

6.  Hexagon Examples

Ice crystals, beehive cells, the white parts of a soccer ball skin, snowflakes, the outer border of a nut are all examples of hexagon plane shapes.

Hexagon planes result from adding one more side to a pentagon.

They have six equal-sized sides which are straight.

7.  Octagon Examples

Octagon shapes include poker tables, open umbrellas, stop signs, and UFC rings.

They have eight angles and eight straight sides, all typically equal in length.

8.  Trapezoid Examples

Trapezoids feature two sides that are parallel out of their four straight sides.

Common examples in life include trusses on bridges, musical dulcimer, the sides of some handbags, some car or bus windows, and a pizza that is half-eaten.

9.  Triangle Examples

Triangle plane figures include sandwiches that are cut diagonally, boat sails, pizza pieces, the sides of an Egyptian pyramid, traffic lights, and tortilla chips.

Triangles are three-sided and have straight sides. 

There are also special types of triangles such as equilaterals (all 3 sides and angles are equal), or isosceles (two sides and two angles are equal)

10. Heptagon Examples

A heptagon plane shape, also known as a septagon, is a 2-dimensional figure with seven sides, seven corners, and seven angles.

Examples of a heptagon in real life include a vase, coin, storage box, cactus, arrowhead, candle holder, pants, or a heptagon star.

Conclusion

A plane is one of the commonest structures that you will find in geometry. It has many applications in life that solve everyday problems.

Many people such as artists, graphic designers, engineers, architects, etc use it to model the world around us.

They are all flat shapes and lack a depth that distinguishes them from 3-dimensional figures.

Image sources: 1, 2, 3