Straightedge and compass - Hexagon

Geometry Level 5

How many moves does it take to construct 6 points in the shape of a regular hexagon?

For example, to get 3 points in the shape of an equilateral triangle you only need two moves:

That's two circles drawn.


All terminology in this question is explained in the first note of my straightedge and compass set. More straightedge and compass constructions can be found there.

4 5 6 7

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3 solutions

(1) Draw a circle radius r and center B.
(2) From a point A on the circumference of this circles, draw another circle radius r.
................Name the top point of intersection as C and the bottom as G.
(3) From B draw a line through A to intersect the left circle at E.
(4) With center E, radius r, draw a circle to intersect the left circle at D on top, F at bottom.
BCDEFG is the Hexagon. r=length of the side of the Hexagon.

I took into account that we had to start from scratch. Please, change this, Wen! @Wen Z

Sharky Kesa - 4 years, 9 months ago

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Starting from scratch, it does take 4 moves. I don't see the issue.

Ivan Koswara - 4 years, 9 months ago

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I see my problem! I thought it was collapsible compasses, not incollapsible!

Sharky Kesa - 4 years, 9 months ago

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@Sharky Kesa As my solution shows, it doesn't matter even if the compass is collapsible.

Ivan Koswara - 4 years, 9 months ago

Thanks for defending . For better presentation, I have modified.

Niranjan Khanderia - 4 years, 8 months ago

Sorry. I saw it now only. Thank you. I have now given all steps plus a diagram.

Niranjan Khanderia - 4 years, 8 months ago
Ivan Koswara
Sep 13, 2016

I cannot prove that it cannot be constructed with less than 4 moves, but I can prove that 4 moves are enough.

  1. Construct a circle ω 0 \omega_0 centered at O O .
  2. Pick a point on ω 0 \omega_0 , call it A A . Construct a circle ω 1 \omega_1 centered at A A with radius A O AO .
  3. Construct the line A O AO . It intersects ω 0 \omega_0 on A A and a new point, D D .
  4. Construct a circle ω 2 \omega_2 centered at D D with radius D O DO .

Let the intersections of ω 0 \omega_0 and ω 1 \omega_1 be B B and F F . Let the intersections of ω 0 \omega_0 and ω 2 \omega_2 be C C and E E so B B and C C are on the same side of A D AD . The hexagon is A B C D E F ABCDEF .

Wei Chen
Sep 13, 2016

Actually, we can do this in 4 steps with compass alone, no need for straightedge at all. I'll follow Ivan Koswara's diagram:

Step 1 and 2 same as Ivan's.

Step 3. Use B as center, BF as radius draw an arc, it'll intersect circle O at D

Step 4. Use A as center, BF as radius draw an arc, it'll intersect circle O at C and E

Now we are done!

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