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A beam compass and a regular compass Using a compass A compass with an extension accessory for larger circles A bow compass capable of drawing the smallest possible circles. A compass, also commonly known as a pair of compasses, is a technical drawing instrument that can be used for inscribing circles or arcs.
The compass may or may not collapse (i.e. fold after being taken off the page, erasing its 'stored' radius). Lines and circles constructed have infinite precision and zero width. Actual compasses do not collapse and modern geometric constructions often use this feature. A 'collapsing compass' would appear to be a less powerful instrument.
In geometry, the compass equivalence theorem is an important statement in compass and straightedge constructions. The tool advocated by Plato in these constructions is a divider or collapsing compass , that is, a compass that "collapses" whenever it is lifted from a page, so that it may not be directly used to transfer distances.
A modern military compass, with included sight device for aligning. A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with magnetic north.
32-point compass rose. The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography.A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each separated by 90 degrees, and secondarily divided by four ordinal (intercardinal) directions—northeast, southeast, southwest, and ...
The Ancient Tradition of Geometric Problems studies the three classical problems of circle-squaring, cube-doubling, and angle trisection throughout the history of Greek mathematics, [1] [2] also considering several other problems studied by the Greeks in which a geometric object with certain properties is to be constructed, in many cases through transformations to other construction problems. [2]
A bearing compass is a magnetic compass mounted in such a way that it allows the taking of bearings of objects by aligning them with the lubber line of the bearing compass. [79] A surveyor's compass is a specialized compass made to accurately measure heading of landmarks and measure horizontal angles to help with map making .
Direction determination refers to the ways in which a cardinal direction or compass point can be determined in navigation and wayfinding.The most direct method is using a compass (magnetic compass or gyrocompass), but indirect methods exist, based on the Sun path (unaided or by using a watch or sundial), the stars, and satellite navigation.