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Originally Posted by alistairsam
but just as there is no perfectly flat plate, the different points in a mirror cell can't also be guaranteed to form a perfectly flat plane, in addition, the bottom surface of the mirror would also be less than perfectly flat. so do mirror cells compensate for these differences by lowering or raising individual or group of points?
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Three points do indeed 'form'(describe?) a perfectly flat plane, just as two points 'form' a perfectly straight line between them.
But forget the flate plane idea, it is just confusing.
An object on one point is balancing, very unstable.
An object on two points is also balancing, still unstable.
An object on three points is at rest, stable.
Every
solid object at rest on another
solid object is in direct contact at three points only. Those three points may not necesarrily form an equilateral triangle, they may make a triangle of any shape, but an equilateral is the most stable.
Even if the objects appear to be in contact in more than three places, they are still only in contact in three places. The fourth(fifth, sixth etc) points may
appear to be in contact but if you were able to inspect them, they would not be touching.
Quote:
one major issue with the plate I imagine would be unpredictable surface deformation due to expansion or contraction. this would be minimal in a cell as contact surface area is minimal.
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Thought that was my original reply