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Gnomon |
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gnomon (nō`mŏn): see sundial sundial, instrument that indicates the time of day by the shadow, cast on a surface marked to show hours or fractions of hours, of an object on which the sun's rays fall.
..... Click the link for more information. . gnomon [′nō·mən] (engineering) On a sundial, the inclined plate or pin that casts a shadow. Also known as style. (mathematics) A geometric figure formed by removing from a parallelogram a similar parallelogram that contains one of its corners. Gnomon an ancient astronomical instrument consisting of a vertical column on a horizontal platform. The altitude and azimuth of the sun can be determined from the length and direction of the column’s shadow. The shortest shadow during the day indicates the direction of the north line. In ancient times the gnomon was used to determine the inclination of the ecliptic to the equator and the geographical latitude of locations. In modern times the gnomon finds use only as a sundial. Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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