
In
four-dimensional geometry
Four-dimensional space (4D) is the mathematical extension of the concept of three-dimensional space (3D). Three-dimensional space is the simplest possible abstraction of the observation that one needs only three numbers, called ''dimensions'' ...
, the spherinder, or spherical cylinder or spherical prism, is a geometric object, defined as the
Cartesian product
In mathematics, specifically set theory, the Cartesian product of two sets and , denoted , is the set of all ordered pairs where is an element of and is an element of . In terms of set-builder notation, that is
A\times B = \.
A table c ...
of a 3-
ball
A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but sometimes ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for s ...
(or solid 2-
sphere
A sphere (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ) is a surface (mathematics), surface analogous to the circle, a curve. In solid geometry, a sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...
) of radius ''r''
1 and a
line segment
In geometry, a line segment is a part of a line (mathematics), straight line that is bounded by two distinct endpoints (its extreme points), and contains every Point (geometry), point on the line that is between its endpoints. It is a special c ...
of length 2''r''
2:
:
Like the
duocylinder, it is also analogous to a
cylinder
A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base.
A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...
in 3-space, which is the Cartesian product of a disk with a
line segment
In geometry, a line segment is a part of a line (mathematics), straight line that is bounded by two distinct endpoints (its extreme points), and contains every Point (geometry), point on the line that is between its endpoints. It is a special c ...
. It is a rotatope and a toratope.
It can be seen in 3-dimensional space by
stereographic projection
In mathematics, a stereographic projection is a perspective transform, perspective projection of the sphere, through a specific point (geometry), point on the sphere (the ''pole'' or ''center of projection''), onto a plane (geometry), plane (th ...
as two concentric spheres, in a similar way that a
tesseract
In geometry, a tesseract or 4-cube is a four-dimensional hypercube, analogous to a two-dimensional square and a three-dimensional cube. Just as the perimeter of the square consists of four edges and the surface of the cube consists of six ...
(cubic prism) can be projected as two concentric cubes, and how a
circular cylinder can be projected into 2-dimensional space as two concentric circles.
Spherindrical coordinate system
One can define a "spherindrical" coordinate system , consisting of
spherical coordinates
In mathematics, a spherical coordinate system specifies a given point in three-dimensional space by using a distance and two angles as its three coordinates. These are
* the radial distance along the line connecting the point to a fixed point ...
with an extra coordinate . This is analogous to how
cylindrical coordinates
A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base.
A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...
are defined: and being
polar coordinates
In mathematics, the polar coordinate system specifies a given point (mathematics), point in a plane (mathematics), plane by using a distance and an angle as its two coordinate system, coordinates. These are
*the point's distance from a reference ...
with an elevation coordinate . Spherindrical coordinates can be converted to Cartesian coordinates using the formulas
where is the radius, is the zenith angle, is the azimuthal angle, and is the height. Cartesian coordinates can be converted to spherindrical coordinates using the formulas
The
hypervolume element for spherindrical coordinates is
which can be derived by computing the
Jacobian.
Measurements
Hypervolume
Given a spherinder with a spherical base of radius and a height , the hypervolume of the spherinder is given by
Surface volume
The surface volume of a spherinder, like the surface area of a cylinder, is made up of three parts:
* the volume of the top base:
* the volume of the bottom base:
* the volume of the lateral 3D surface:
, which is the surface area of the spherical base times the height
Therefore, the total surface volume is
Proof
The above formulas for hypervolume and surface volume can be proven using integration. The hypervolume of an arbitrary 4D region is given by the quadruple integral
The hypervolume of the spherinder can be integrated over spherindrical coordinates.
Related 4-polytopes

The spherinder is related to the
uniform prismatic polychora, which are
Cartesian product
In mathematics, specifically set theory, the Cartesian product of two sets and , denoted , is the set of all ordered pairs where is an element of and is an element of . In terms of set-builder notation, that is
A\times B = \.
A table c ...
s of a regular or semiregular
polyhedron
In geometry, a polyhedron (: polyhedra or polyhedrons; ) is a three-dimensional figure with flat polygonal Face (geometry), faces, straight Edge (geometry), edges and sharp corners or Vertex (geometry), vertices. The term "polyhedron" may refer ...
and a
line segment
In geometry, a line segment is a part of a line (mathematics), straight line that is bounded by two distinct endpoints (its extreme points), and contains every Point (geometry), point on the line that is between its endpoints. It is a special c ...
. There are eighteen convex uniform prisms based on the
Platonic and
Archimedean solid
The Archimedean solids are a set of thirteen convex polyhedra whose faces are regular polygon and are vertex-transitive, although they aren't face-transitive. The solids were named after Archimedes, although he did not claim credit for them. They ...
s (
tetrahedral prism,
truncated tetrahedral prism,
cubic prism,
cuboctahedral prism,
octahedral prism,
rhombicuboctahedral prism,
truncated cubic prism,
truncated octahedral prism,
truncated cuboctahedral prism,
snub cubic prism,
dodecahedral prism,
icosidodecahedral prism,
icosahedral prism,
truncated dodecahedral prism,
rhombicosidodecahedral prism,
truncated icosahedral prism,
truncated icosidodecahedral prism,
snub dodecahedral prism), plus an infinite family based on
antiprism
In geometry, an antiprism or is a polyhedron composed of two Parallel (geometry), parallel Euclidean group, direct copies (not mirror images) of an polygon, connected by an alternating band of triangles. They are represented by the Conway po ...
s, and another infinite family of uniform
duoprism
In geometry of 4 dimensions or higher, a double prism or duoprism is a polytope resulting from the Cartesian product of two polytopes, each of two dimensions or higher. The Cartesian product of an -polytope and an -polytope is an -polytope, wher ...
s, which are products of two
regular polygon
In Euclidean geometry, a regular polygon is a polygon that is Equiangular polygon, direct equiangular (all angles are equal in measure) and Equilateral polygon, equilateral (all sides have the same length). Regular polygons may be either ''convex ...
s.
See also
*
Clifford torus
In geometric topology, the Clifford torus is the simplest and most symmetric flat embedding of the Cartesian product of two circles and (in the same sense that the surface of a cylinder is "flat"). It is named after William Kingdon Cliffo ...
References
* ''The Fourth Dimension Simply Explained'', Henry P. Manning, Munn & Company, 1910, New York. Available from the University of Virginia library. Also accessible online
The Fourth Dimension Simply Explainedmdash;contains a description of duoprisms and duocylinders (double cylinders)
* ''The Visual Guide To Extra Dimensions: Visualizing The Fourth Dimension, Higher-Dimensional Polytopes, And Curved Hypersurfaces'', Chris McMullen, 2008, {{isbn, 978-1438298924
Four-dimensional geometry
Geometric objects
Spherical geometry