Why do we talk about Saturn's "rings" instead of Saturn's disc? Are people really that clueless about geometry?

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• http://urbansoulflower.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/saturn3dspacetour11.jpg
  I'd say it's pretty much the same geometry as a CD or DVD, complete with the hole in the middle. But maybe you'd call a CD or DVD "rings" as well?

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  by GeorgeGee left Answerbag (What's this?) on September 25th, 2009

• CD's and DVD's don't set the standard for what a disk is. People will often misuse terms to when giving products names.

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  by Glenn Blaylock on September 25th, 2009

• If you search for "the area or space between two concentric circles" you'll find it's the definition of "annulus" not "ring." A ring on the other hand is defined as "an algebraic structure consisting of a set together with two binary operations (usually called addition and multiplication), where each operation combines two elements to form a third element." On the other hand, it is correct to refer to the technical term "punctured disc" as a subset of the family of disc geometries, which is another name for an annulus or a Reimann surface.

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  by GeorgeGee left Answerbag (What's this?) on September 29th, 2009

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