The Crystal Palace pane of glass (49 inches) as the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle, thereby creating a triangle with a length-to-height ratio of 2.5:1, whose base (adjacent side) was 4 feet long. By mirroring this triangle he obtained the 8-foot-wide gables that formed the vertical faces at either end of the prism, each of which was 24' long. With this arrangement, Paxton could glaze the entire roof surface with identical panes that did not need to be trimmed. Paxton placed three of these 8' x 24' roof units side-by-side, horizontally supported by a grid of cast iron beams, which was held up
Special right triangle are in the ratio 1 : 2 : 3 and respectively measure 30° (), 60° (), and 90° (). The sides are in the ratio 1 : : 2. The proof of this fact is clear using trigonometry. The geometric proof is: The 30°–60°–90° triangle is the only right triangle whose angles are in an arithmetic progression. The proof of this fact is simple and follows on from the fact that if "α", , are the angles in the progression then the sum of the angles = 180°. After dividing by 3, the angle must be 60°. The right angle