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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).
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.
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 ...
Napoleon's problem is a compass construction problem. In it, a circle and its center are given. The challenge is to divide the circle into four equal arcs using only a compass. [1] [2] Napoleon was known to be an amateur mathematician, but it is not known if he either created or solved the problem.
Live Geometry is a free CodePlex project that lets you create interactive ruler and compass constructions and experiment with them. It is written in Silverlight 4 and C# 4.0 (Visual Studio 2010). The core engine is a flexible and extensible framework that allows easy addition of new figure types and features.
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 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.