Chapter 1 – Understanding LEGO® Geometry

Publisher Summary LEGO builders usually express the size of LEGO parts with three numbers: width, length, and height. The standard way to use LEGO bricks is “studs up.” When expressing sizes, one always refers to this orientation, even when they are using the bricks upside down or when rotating them in 3-D space. Height is the simplest property to identify; it is the vertical distance between the top and bottom of the basic brick. Width, by convention, is the shorter of the two dimensions that lie on the horizontal plane (length is the other one). Both width and length are expressed in terms of studs, also called “LEGO units.” The LEGO system includes a class of components whose height is one–third of a brick. The most important element of this class is the plate, which comes in a huge variety of rectangular sizes and in some special shapes, too.