420-LCV Technical Drawing

Geometric Constructions: ruler and compass and CAD

February 8, 2023

Welcome to the Marianopolis Technical Drawing course. The first few weeks of the course re-
view some basic geometric nconstruction techniques used for manual drawing. You will need a ruler
or straightedge, a good-quality compass, and a small triangular “set square”. You should also have spare
leads and some sandpaper for your compass. The first two assignments will emphasize manual drawing
skills. As the course progresses, we will rely increasingly on the computer-aided design software.
You should know all of these constructions manually with ruler and compass and understand how to
achieve the same constructions with the CAD software.
Note that the references may not use the exact notation or method described in class. Also note that
your teacher apologizes in advance for the advertisements and music that may appear on some of these
sites or videos, but these are beyond my control!
I have checked these over, but I would appreciate feedback if you find any problems with the links,
or if you find better explanations elsewhere.
On assignments and tests, you must be able to describe your steps in clear and concise language.
These descriptions are an important part of the course. If you are asked to give a description of the
process of drawing a complex shape, it is sufficient to refer clearly to any of the methods described here.
If you are asked to describe a specific technique, such as finding the centre of a circle or an open-belt
tangent, you must give the steps for that construction, but you may assume that it is not necessary to give
the full explanation of each step of the construction described.

1 Lines, angles, and polygons

• Perpendicular bisector of a line segment: dividing a line in two equal parts: link.

• Bisector of an angle (two cases: internal and external bisector): link.

• Divide a line into any number of equal or proportional parts: link.

• Line parallel to a given line L and at a distance d from L. 2 methods:

– Using just a ruler and compass: link.

– Using a set square - see the first part of: link

• Line perpendicular to line segment at a given point on the line: link

• Line perpendicular to the end of a ray: link.

• Triangle with given sides: link.

• Right triangle with given hypotenuse and side: link.

• Equilateral triangle (Convenient for constructing 60◦ angles): See above

• Regular hexagon (Convenient for constructing 120◦ angles): link.

• Regular pentagon (Convenient for constructing 72◦ angles): link. Note that this method is exactly
what was shown in class, but the labeling of points is very different.

1
2 Circles and ellipses
• The outcircle or circumcircle of a triangle: link.

• Find the center of a circle: 2 methods

– Using two chords: link.

– Constructing a rectangle inside the circle to define two diameters. I have not found an exact
version of this online.

• The incircle of a triangle: link.

• Find the foci of an ellipse with given major and minor axis: 2 methods.

– First method: link.

– I have not found a good online reference for the second method, which involved:
1. Drawing a semicircle with the diameter of the major axis.
2. Drawing a line perpendicular to the minor axis, tangent to the ellipse, to intersect the
semicircle.
3. Dropping perpendicular lines from the points of intersection to the major axis.

• Ellipse with given major and minor axis:

– Looped string method: link.

– Trammel method, brief description: link.
– Trammel method, longer explanation: link.
– Trammel method, longish video: link.
– Concentric circles method: link.

3 Lines tangent to a circle

• Tangent line to circle from external point P: link.

• Internal tangent(s) from one circle to another (“cross belt”): link.

• External tangent(s) from one circle to another (“open belt”): link.

4 Tangent circles and arcs

Some general information can be found here: link.

• Circle or arc with radius r tangent to a line at a given point P on the line.

1. Construct perpendicular to line at P.

2. Mark distance r on perpendicular to define point O.
3. Draw circle or arc with radius r at O.

2
• Arc with radius r tangent to two lines that are at right angles link.

• Arc with radius r tangent to two lines that are at acute (< 90 ◦ ) or obtuse (> 90◦ ) angles. link.

• Arc with radius r tangent to a line L and passing through a point P not on L. link (Figure 4.25a).

• Arc tangent to a line L at point Q on L and passing through a point P not on L. link (Figure 4.25b).

• Given an arc A having radius s, find an arc with radius r tangent to A and passing through a point
P not on A. link (Figure 4.25c).

• Arc with radius r tangent to two given arcs:

link. Also here if you can stand the background music: link.

• Arc with radius r tangent to a given line L and to a given arc A. (Two possibilities: inside arc and
outside arc.) Again I apologize for the music. You should probably mute your speakers before
watching this: link.