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The concept of constructibility as discussed in this article applies specifically to compass and straightedge constructions. More constructions become possible if other tools are allowed. The so-called neusis constructions, for example, make use of a marked ruler. The constructions are a mathematical idealization and are assumed to be done exactly.
Many of these problems are easily solvable provided that other geometric transformations are allowed; for example, neusis construction can be used to solve the former two problems. In terms of algebra , a length is constructible if and only if it represents a constructible number , and an angle is constructible if and only if its cosine is a ...
The square root of 2 is equal to the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle with legs of length 1 and is therefore a constructible number. In geometry and algebra, a real number is constructible if and only if, given a line segment of unit length, a line segment of length | | can be constructed with compass and straightedge in a finite number of steps.
Geometric Constructions is a mathematics textbook on constructible numbers, and more generally on using abstract algebra to model the sets of points that can be created through certain types of geometric construction, and using Galois theory to prove limits on the constructions that can be performed.
Cover of Lemoine's "Géométrographie" In the mathematical field of geometry, geometrography is the study of geometrical constructions. [1] The concepts and methods of geometrography were first expounded by Émile Lemoine (1840–1912), a French civil engineer and a mathematician, in a meeting of the French Association for the Advancement of the Sciences held at Oran in 1888.
The following construction is a variation of H. W. Richmond's construction. The differences to the original: The circle k 2 determines the point H instead of the bisector w 3. The circle k 4 around the point G' (reflection of the point G at m) yields the point N, which is no longer so close to M, for the construction of the tangent.
The next construction is originally due to Archimedes, called a Neusis construction, i.e., that uses tools other than an un-marked straightedge. The diagrams we use show this construction for an acute angle, but it indeed works for any angle up to 180 degrees. This requires three facts from geometry (at right):
Neusis construction. In geometry, the neusis (νεῦσις; from Ancient Greek νεύειν (neuein) ' incline towards '; plural: νεύσεις, neuseis) is a geometric construction method that was used in antiquity by Greek mathematicians.