A 3-D view of a beverage-can stove with a cross section in yellow.

A 2-D cross-sectional view of a compression seal.

In geometry, a cross section is the intersection of a body in 2-dimensional space with a line, or of a body in 3-dimensional space with a plane, etc. More plainly, when cutting an object into slices one gets many parallel cross sections.

A cross section, or section is also an orthographic projection of a 3-dimensional object from the position of a plane through the object. A floor plan is a section viewed from the top. In such views, the portion of the object in front of the plane is omitted to reveal what lies beyond. In the case of a floor plan, the roof and upper portion of the walls may be omitted.

Elevations or roof plans are orthographic projections, but they are not sections as their viewing plane is outside of the object.

With computed axial tomography, computers construct cross sections from x-ray data.

A cross section is a common method of depicting the internal arrangement of a 3-dimensional object in two dimensions. It is often used in technical drawing and is traditionally crosshatched. The style of crosshatching indicates the type of material the section passes through.

See also

• Descriptive geometry
• Graphical projection
• Plans (drawings)

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