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"While a "spiral" and a "helix" are distinct as technical terms, a helix is sometimes described as a spiral in non-technical usage." - http://en.wikipedia.org/w
by asher_ 14y ago
"While a "spiral" and a "helix" are distinct as technical terms, a helix is sometimes described as a spiral in non-technical usage." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral
They are different, but people who don't know the difference often call hexixes spirals, as is the case with spiral staircases.
- shardling 14y agoI'm fairly certain that the non-technical sense by far predates the more narrow technical definition. It's all about context, and there was nothing here that would make helix more correct than spiral. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=spiral http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=spiral