Circle of a sphere Circle of a sphere A circle of a sphere is a circle that lies on a sphere. Such a circle can be formed as the intersection of a sphere and a plane, or of two spheres. A circle on a sphere whose plane passes through the center of the sphere is called a great circle; otherwise it is a small circle. Circles of a sphere have radius less than or equal to the sphere radius, with equality when the circle is a great circle. In the geographic coordinate system on a globe, the parallels of latitude are such circles, with
Mohr's circle points formula_117 on the Mohr circle and the centre of the circle. This double angle relation comes from the fact that the parametric equations for the Mohr circle are a function of formula_35. It can also be seen that the planes formula_80 and formula_81 in the material element around formula_7 of Figure 5 are separated by an angle formula_135, which in the Mohr circle is represented by a formula_136 angle (double the angle). The second approach involves the determination of a point on the Mohr circle called the "pole" or the "origin of planes". Any straight line drawn from the