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Bisect The Segment (Posted on 2005-01-29) Difficulty: 3 of 5
Show how to bisect a line segment with a compass (no straight-edge).

See The Solution Submitted by David Shin    
Rating: 4.0000 (4 votes)

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Solution solution | Comment 3 of 8 |

Call the line segment AB. 

Set compass to AB and make 2 circles around A and B. 

Keeping the compasses at AB mark off the 120deg & 180deg points on the circle centred at B.  Call the 180deg mark C. 

Place the point of the compass at C and set the length to AC (i.e. 2AB).  Swing an arc to cut the circle centred at A and call this intersection D. 

Reset compass to length AB and place point at D.  Inscribe an arc so that it cuts AB.  This will be at M, the mid-point of AB.

Not as nice as Larry's solution, but it works...


  Posted by Alec on 2005-01-30 09:47:19
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