square in circle?

May 18, 2009 29 Replies
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How do you propose to measure the circumference?

Wrap a string around it, measure the string.

carpenter's

rotating that

method of

easier?

Get yourself a shashigane (Japanese Carpenter's Square) marked in the shaku/sun system and learn to use it. Unlike American style framing squares, they are marked on the back side for folks that work with logs (circles). They are very handy for marking squares, and other geometric shapes, on the end of a log, or inside a circle, without a lot of fuss.

Len

Dunno how a four sided figure would help, but here's a way to inscribe an equilateral triangle using a steel square:

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Use bisection to bisect the circle with a line, then bisect the 1st line at a right angle. Draw lines from the points where the two lines intersect the circle (4 pts). Voila! Square in circle.

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Now that you have the square, do you have a solution for the problem, dividing the circle into 3 equal pie sections?

Leon, Thanks, I was about to ask notbob that same thing. Kerry

Ask the boatbuilder.

I was jes showing an easy way to make a square inside a circle. For the three angles in a circle, I'd use a hexagon.

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