How can you divide an angle into 3 equal angles? You may only use a straightedge and a compass to achieve this.

(This means : You have an angle A, you divide Angle A into 3 Angles B,C,D. And B=C=D=A/3)

Note: vohonam clarified that the problem actually only gives you a straightedge, not a ruler.

(In reply to re(7): The next problem after this... by levik)

The theorem is (and has been proved) that it's impossible to find x y and z so that it works for n>2. The reason the above "seems" to work on a calculator is that most calculators will give you "2.54121026e+39" for both answers. However, even using just Window's (more accurate) Calculator app we'll see the two answers it gives are "2.5412102593148014108192786496437e+39" and "2.5412102586145891762886699581424e+39" - it's just a rounding error on the calculators that makes it seem like you've found a solution.

Posted by Nick Reed on 2002-06-20 23:07:31