

Maintain the width of the compass and repeat this process with the compass point instead on the intersection of the arc and ray ED.

The measure of angle GFH should be equal to the measure of angle ABC.Ĭonstruct a midpoint and a perpendicular bisector for line segment AB below: Draw a ray from F through the intersection of the two arcs.Again, keeping the compass width the same, place the compass point on the intersection of the arc, drawn in step 3, and ray FG, then draw an arc above ray FG such that it intersects the other arc.The radius of the arc is line segment PQ. Place the compass point on P and draw an arc through Q. Label the intersections of arc DE and angle ABC (from step 2) P and Q.Maintaining the compass width, place the compass point on F and draw an arc through ray FG.Place the compass point on B and draw arc DE through rays AB and BC.

You can pick any point on the arc constructed in step 3 to copy line segment AB.Ĭonstruct a copy of angle ABC using a compass and straightedge:.Line segment CD should have the same length as AB as long as the compass width was maintained. Draw a line segment from C to D with a straightedge. Draw point D, the other endpoint of the copied line segment, anywhere on the arc.Without changing the compass width, place the compass point on C and draw an arc.Place the compass point on A and the pencil end on point B.Line segments OA and OB are radii of the circle.

#Line shapes geometry full#
To draw a complete circle, continue drawing an arc until the pencil end of the compass makes a full circle back to point A. Then, move the pencil end counterclockwise to point B to construct arc AB. To draw a circle or arc, place the point end of the compass at a point, O, and place the pencil end of the compass at point A. Basic geometric constructionsĪ compass and straightedge can be used to draw many geometric figures and constructions. The straightedge or ruler to the right is used to draw line segments, but not to measure length. It can also be used to copy line segments. Geometric construction refers to the process of drawing lines, angles, and other geometric shapes and figures using only a compass and a straightedge (usually a ruler without measurements), without use of specific measurements of length, angle, etc.Ī normal or mechanical compass like the one shown above is used to draw circles and arcs. Home / geometry / shape / geometric construction Geometric construction
