function area = stri_vertices_to_area ( r, v1, v2, v3 ) %*****************************************************************************80 % %% STRI_VERTICES_TO_AREA computes the area of a spherical triangle. % % Discussion: % % A sphere centered at 0 in 3D satisfies the equation: % % X * X + Y * Y + Z * Z = R * R % % A spherical triangle is specified by three points on the surface % of the sphere. % % The area formula is known as Girard's formula. % % The area of a spherical triangle is: % % AREA = ( A + B + C - PI ) * R * R % % where A, B and C are the (surface) angles of the triangle. % % Licensing: % % This code is distributed under the GNU LGPL license. % % Modified: % % 29 April 2010 % % Author: % % John Burkardt % % Parameters: % % Input, real R, the radius of the sphere. % % Input, real V1(3), V2(3), V3(3), the vertices of the triangle. % % Output, real AREA, the area of the spherical triangle. % % % Compute the lengths of the sides of the spherical triangle. % [ as, bs, cs ] = stri_vertices_to_sides ( r, v1, v2, v3 ); % % Get the spherical angles. % [ a, b, c ] = stri_sides_to_angles ( r, as, bs, cs ); % % Get the area. % area = stri_angles_to_area ( r, a, b, c ); return end