THE strange case of the expanding and contracting isosceles triangle surfaced in the Seanad yesterday.
Senators had their own angles on the question which confused Higher Maths Leaving Cert students last week because it implied that an isosceles triangle has four extra degrees.
The Department of Education has given assurances that appropriate allowance will be made for the error when exam papers are marked.
Mr John Dardis (PD) was intrigued to learn that the isosceles had four more degrees than it previously possessed in recorded history. In the light of this, had the state authorities any plans to refine Einstein's Theory on Relativity, and would a truck carrying exam papers be used for this exercise, he wondered?
The House Leader, Mr Maurice Manning, became a victim of his own humour when he sought to explain how the famed triangle came to have "104 degrees."
"184" trumpeted other senators.
A geometrically reappraised Mr Manning said he could only speculate that the triangle in question had expanded on a warm day.