Abstract
The geometry of rings with 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 links, particularly those with seven links such as occur in cyclo‐heptane and analogous molecules* is re‐considered with the aid of distance geometry, now more practicable with modern mathematical software. Use is made of a quadric surface which may be fitted to nine points.
*In admiration for the author I have ventured to appropriate the title of Archimedes’ work “On the regular heptagon”, which came to light only in 1926 [C. Schoy, Graeco‐Arabische Studien, Isis 8 (1926) 21–40]. “Regular”, as applied to rings in space admits of various definitions.
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Mackay, A.L. On the regular heptagon. Journal of Mathematical Chemistry 21, 197–209 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019174403454
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019174403454