After the circles and those parallelograms, the triangle is another geometric shape that we often come across. When combined with a square, a 3D triangle becomes a pyramid. When combined with a circle, it becomes a cone—which is what we’re going to look at now.
From a profile view, a cone is an isosceles triangle, with the point of the cone connected to the center of the base by a straight line that is perpendicular to the base.
Adding a bit of perspective, we can now see that the base is actually a circle, and the axis from top-to-bottom intersects at the center of this circle and is perpendicular to its surface.
Seen from directly above—or directly below—the cone is simply a circle. The axis that runs through it remains at its center.
The circle at the base of the cone gets repeated an infinite number of times in a series of ever-decreasing circles. Viewed from the tip of the cone to the base, it’s a bit like a waveform—which is exactly what is represented by the familiar Wi-Fi logo!
You can also get a spiral inside a cone, which makes us think of seashells—or snails! The pleasing proportions of a seashell are in fact all based on math, and specifically the proportions of the “golden ratio” that can be found in lots of natural spiral phenomena—including the seeds on the head of a sunflower, or the scales of a pinecone.
But enough math already! If you want a shortcut, draw an ellipse (a proper rounded one, or a pointy almond-shaped one like this) and then draw in the rest, just trying to keep it roughly symmetrical.
