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Superellipsoid


The superellipsoid is a generalization of the ellipsoid by allowing different exponents of the variables in the algebraic representation. It is similarly a generalization of the superellipse to three dimensions.

The version called the superquadratic ellipsoid is defined by the equation

 (|x|^(2/e)+|y|^(2/e))^(e/n)+|z|^(2/n)=1,

where e and n are the east-west and north-south exponents, respectively. This superellipsoid can be rendered in POVRay® with the command

  superellipsoid{ <e, n> }
Superellipsoid

The generalization

 |x/a|^n+|y/b|^n+|z/c|^n=1

of the surface considered by Gray (1997) may also be called a superellipsoid. Some special cases of this surface are summarized in the following table.


See also

Astroidal Ellipsoid, Capsule, Ellipsoid, Goursat's Surface, Oblate Spheroid, Prolate Spheroid, Spheroid, Superegg, Superellipse, Supersphere

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References

Bourke, P. "Superellipse and Superellipsoid: A Geometric Primitive for Computer Aided Design." http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~pbourke/surfaces/superellipse/.Gray, A. Modern Differential Geometry of Curves and Surfaces with Mathematica, 2nd ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, p. 292, 1997.POV-Ray Team. "Superquadratic Ellipsoid." §4.5.1.10 in Persistence of Vision Ray-Tracer Version 3.1g User's Documentation, p. 199, May 1999.Vestergaard, E. "Piet Heins Superellipse." http://www.matematiksider.dk/piethein.html.

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Superellipsoid." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Superellipsoid.html

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