What shape can be the cross section of a cylinder?

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What shape can be the cross section of a cylinder?

Figure 1. The cross-sectional area of a cylinder is equal to the area of a circle if cut parallel to the circular base.[1]

The cross-sectional area is the area of a two-dimensional shape that is obtained when a three-dimensional object - such as a cylinder - is sliced perpendicular to some specified axis at a point.[2]

For example, the cross-section of a cylinder - when sliced parallel to its base - is a circle. Thus, the cross-sectional area of this slice is the area of a circle with the radius equal to the radius of the provided cylinder.

Uses

The cross-sectional area of some shape is important in many different applications. The cross-section of a series of pipes carrying water helps to determine the speed and pressure with which the water flows through the pipe, especially if there is some change in the cross-sectional area of the pipe at some point. Using Bernoulli's equation, changes in the cross-sectional area of a pipe can be used to determine how other variables such as water pressure and speed must change to accommodate for this pipe change. As a result of this, cross-sectional area of pipes must be taken into account when building hydroelectric dams - particularly the penstocks - for hydroelectric power generation.

Additionally, the cross-sectional area is important when looking at nuclear reactions. The cross-section of some nucleus is used to define the effective size of a nucleus, and thus this value can be used to express the probability of some nuclear reaction taking place.[3] As well, the neutron cross section is particularly important as it expresses how likely a reaction between a neutron and a target nucleus is, the basis for nuclear fission.

For Further Reading

References

What shape can be the cross section of a cylinder?

A cross section is the shape we get when cutting straight through an object.

What shape can be the cross section of a cylinder?

The cross section of this object is a triangle.

It is like a view into the inside of something made by cutting through it.

This is a cross-section of a piece of celery.
What shape can be the cross section of a cylinder?

Geometry

In geometry it is the shape made when a solid is cut through by a plane.

What shape can be the cross section of a cylinder?

Example:

The cross section of this circular cylinder is a circle

We don't draw the rest of the object, just the shape made when you cut through.

What shape can be the cross section of a cylinder?

Example:

The cross section of a rectangular pyramid is a rectangle

Cross sections are usually parallel to the base like above, but can be in any direction.

What shape can be the cross section of a cylinder?

The vertical cross section through the center of this torus is two circles!

What shape can be the cross section of a cylinder?

And the horizontal cross section is an annulus

More Examples of Cross Sections

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