Shortcut Method for Rectangular Plane

Solid angle subtended by a rectangular plane at any point in the space

*Mr Harish Chandra Rajpoot (B Tech, ME)* Oct, 2013
Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur-273010 (UP) India

Conditions of Applying Shortcut Method: There are two conditions for applying Shortcut Method
1. Plane must be a rectangular plane.
2. Location of foot of perpendicular (F.O.P.) drawn from the given point to the plane of rectangle must
be known i.e. F.O.P. can be located in the plane of paper.
Lets know one standard formula of rectangular plane which is applicable for all the configurations of any
rectangle & locations of any point in the space. Solid angle subtended by a rectangular plane of size at
any point lying at a normal height h from any of the vertices given as follows

)(

)
)

Working Steps of Shortcut Method:
Step 1: Draw a perpendicular to the plane of rectangle & specify the location of foot of perpendicular (F.O.P.)
& the given point in the plane of paper.
Step 2: Draw the perpendiculars from F.O.P. to all the sides of given rectangle
Step 3: Solid angle subtended by the rectangle at the given point will be equal to the algebraic sum of solid
angles subtended at the same point by all the elementary rectangles having common vertex at the F.O.P. such
that the sum of areas of these rectangles is equal to the area of given rectangle.
Step 4: Find out the solid angle subtended by each of the elementary rectangles at the given point using
standard formula & hence find the solid angle subtended by the given rectangle at the given point by taking
algebraic sum of solid angles subtended by elementary rectangles.
Now, let there be any rectangular plane ABCD having length & width and any given point say P (i.e.
observer) lying at a normal height from the plane of given rectangle. Draw a perpendicular from the given
point P to the plane of rectangle ABCD at the point O. There are only following possible cases for the
location of Foot of Perpendicular (F.O.P.) O
1. F.O.P. lies outside the boundary of rectangle ABCD:
Let the foot of perpendicular O lies outside the boundary of rectangle ABCD (See fig1 below)
Fig 1. Fig 2.
According to working steps, draw the perpendiculars to all the sides of rectangle ABCD (as shown by the
dotted straight lines as OE normal to AB, OG normal to BC, OF normal to CD & OH normal to AD in the fig2 )
Now, consider all the elementary rectangles OEAH, OEBG, OFDH & OFCG all having common vertex at the
F.O.P. O. Find the area of given rectangle ABCD as the algebraic sum of areas of these elementary rectangles
as follows (see the fig 2 above)
()

()

()

[()

()

] [()

()

] ()
Now, replace the areas by the corresponding values of solid angle as follows

] [

] ()
Measure the necessary dimensions from the diagram (i.e. fig2.) (or by analytical method) & apply standard
formula of rectangle to find the values of solid angle as follows

(
()()
(()

()

)(()

()

)
)

(
()()
(()

()

)(()

()

)
)

(
()()
(()

()

)(()

()

)
)

(
()()
(()

()

)(()

()

)
)
Now, set above values into eq(II) & find out the required value of

.
2. F.O.P. lies on the boundary (i.e. on one of the sides) of rectangle ABCD:
Let the foot of perpendicular O lies on the boundary of rectangle ABCD say on the side CD
(See fig3 below)
Fig 3.
According to working steps, draw the perpendiculars to all the sides of rectangle ABCD (as shown by dotted
straight lines OE normal to AB in the fig 3)
Now, consider all the elementary rectangles OEAD & OEBC all having common vertex at the F.O.P. O. Find
the area of given rectangle ABCD as the algebraic sum of areas of these elementary rectangles as follows
()

()

()

Now, replace the areas by the corresponding values of solid angle as follows

()
Measure the necessary dimensions from the diagram (i.e. fig3.) & apply standard formula of rectangle to find
the values of solid angle as follows

(
()()
(()

()

)(()

()

)
)

(
()()
(()

()

)(()

()

)
)
Now, set above values into eq(III) & find out the required value of

.
3. F.O.P. lies inside the boundary of rectangle ABCD:
Let the foot of perpendicular O lies inside the boundary of rectangle ABCD (See fig 4 below)
fig 4.
According to working steps , draw the perpendiculars to all the sides of rectangle ABCD (as shown by dotted
straight lines OE normal to AB, OF normal to BC, OG normal to CD & OH normal to AD in the fig 4 above )
Now, consider all the elementary rectangles OEAH, OEBF, OGDH & OGCF having common vertex at the F.O.P.
O. Find the area of given rectangle ABCD as the algebraic sum of areas of elementary rectangles as follows
(see the fig 4 above)
()

()

()

()

()

Now, replace the areas by the corresponding values of solid angle as follows

()
Measure the necessary dimensions from the diagram (i.e. fig4.) & apply standard formula of rectangle to find
the values of solid angle as follows

(
()()
(()

()

)(()

()

)
)

(
()()
(()

()

)(()

()

)
)

(
()()
(()

()

)(()

()

)
)

(
()()
(()

()

)(()

()

)
)
Now, set above values into eq(IV) & find out the required value of

.
Thus, from all above results it is obvious that solid angle subtended by a rectangular plane at any point in the
space can be easily calculated by tracing the diagram & using one standard formula of rectangular plane.
*Above standard formula has been directly taken from the authors book Advanced Geometry which has its derivation &
explanation in details (Publisher Website: www.notionpress.com)
Note: This method is widely used to solve the complex problems of solid angle subtended by the rectangles.
Courtesy: Advanced Geometry by Harish Chandra Rajpoot ISBN-13: 9789383808151