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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 can have an arbitrarily large radius with no markings on it (unlike certain real-world compasses). Circles and circular arcs can be drawn starting from two given points: the centre and a point on the circle. The compass may or may not collapse (i.e. fold after being taken off the page, erasing its 'stored' radius).
Animation of construction of a pentagon using a compass and straightedge. A mathematical instrument is a tool or device used in the study or practice of mathematics.In geometry, construction of various proofs was done using only a compass and straightedge; arguments in these proofs relied only on idealized properties of these instruments and literal construction was regarded as only an ...
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.
To measure an angle θ, a circular arc centered at the vertex of the angle is drawn, e.g., with a pair of compasses. The ratio of the length s of the arc by the radius r of the circle is the number of radians in the angle: [ 20 ] θ = s r r a d . {\displaystyle \theta ={\frac {s}{r}}\,\mathrm {rad} .}
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One person in India says in India it's called a compass and not a pair of compasses. One person in Australia says in Australia it's called a compass and never a pair of compasses. Several people in England say they learned in school in the '40s, '60s, or '70s to call it a compass, not a pair of compasses.
Galileo's geometrical and military compass, thought to have been made c. 1604 by Mazzoleni Figure showing the scales of Galileo's military compass, from his manual on the device. Galileo first developed his sector in the early 1590s as a tool for artillerymen. By 1597 it had evolved into an instrument that had much broader utility.