Maximum-area polygons
Contrary to intuition, a polygon with a given number of
vertices and a given diameter that maximizes its area is not always
regular
The applet below finds a maximum-area polygon by Monte-Carlo methods. (This
is probably not the best optimization strategy in this case, but it was
the easiest and fastest to code. Also, it does not need to make any
assumptions about how a maximum area n-gon looks like).
Sometimes you will experience that the simulation generates self-overlapping
polygons; in this case, the reported area will not be correct. (Hey, this is
just a quick hack!)
Version: Saturday, 26 April 1997 11:17:34
Wolfgang Schildbach
<wschildbach@fermi.franken.de>