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History of Math
Professors:
Euclid, Antiphon, Hippocrates, and many others. Euclid will be discussed first, and the most,
because of all he brought to constructions. First with his three postulates, which became the laws
of construction, and secondly with all the many constructions which he himself created. Also the
problems of antiquity will be discussed in great depth along with the ways in which the methods
of construction have changed over time. The paper will then delve in to some simple
constructions. A few that will be discussed are bisecting an angle, constructing perpendicular
bisectors, and constructing a line parallel to a given line. These simple constructions can be used
to construct more difficult geometric figures. That will be what is discussed in the final section
of this writing the construction of more difficult figures. Some of the figures discussed include
figure. These constructions normally use only a compass and a straight edge, although over time
some other methods have come in to use. One method which will be used throughout this report
is Geometers Sketch Pad which is a computer software system which can be used to make
constructions. In this study the author will create many constructions some of which are quite
simple. The simple constructions will lead to more difficult ones. The constructions will have
step by step instructions. However, all of the constructions will come later to begin with the
paper will discuss the history of these constructions back as far as the Greeks. The history
History
Geometric constructions have been used for many years however one of the first men to
work with them to a great extent was Euclid. He created postulates which have long been
straight line may be drawn from any point to any other point, a continuous line can be
represented, and a circle with any center and distance may be described (Coolidge, 1963). These
rules basically allowed for a mathematician to use a straight edge of indefinite length and a
compass which was capable of opening indefinitely as well. These postulates obviously created
some problems as it seemed nearly impossible to use only those tools to create all figures. In
Euclid’s time he and others were able to do many constructions including: constructing an
equilateral triangle, a perpendicular line to a given line, and a midpoint of a line segment.
Throughout history, mathematicians were able to construct almost all geometric figures
The three problems which were most well known for not being able to be solved by
Euclidean’s way were the Problems of Antiquity. The three problems were trisecting an angle,
doubling a cube, and squaring a circle. These problems were unsolvable for over two thousand
years with the use of a compass and a straight edge alone (Weisstein, 2009). Trisecting an angle,
was the first problem of antiquity and many mathematicians including Hippias, Archimedes, and
Nicomedes worked to find a way to create a construction method which worked on all angles
(Jackter, 2000). This problem was unfortunately not plane (able to be constructed using a
straight edge and a compass), it just so happened to be a solid construction which needed conics
to be solved. This was proven because if an equation is irreducible then it has no roots which
can be represented as rational functions. If the previous is the case then the equation cannot be
solved by a finite number of square roots and in turn is insolvable with a straight edge and a
The second problem of antiquity is squaring a circle which was a daunting task in ancient
times by common Euclidean methods. The first mathematician recorded as trying this problem
was Anaxagoras. He was followed by many others through history including Oenopides,
Antiphon, Bryson, Hippocrates, and Hippias(O'Connor, Robertson, 1999). Many attempts at the
squaring of a circle lead to lots of expansion in geometry. In their attempts Antiphon and Bryson
created two very important processes of geometry. Antiphon worked with inscribing polygons in
a circle starting with a square as he attempted to solve the problem. Bryson worked with the
inscribing and also another very similar process as he circumscribed polygons about circles.
After many years, this problem was proven to be insolvable in the plane method and required a
solid construction. The first man to be on the right path to proving it insolvable was James
Gregory. His proof dealt with the fact that π was a transcendental number and there for would
not work with a rational polynomial equation. This proof became much sounder when Lambert
proved π to be irrational. The proof was finalized in 1880 when Lindemann proved π to be
transcendental.
The final problem of antiquity is doubling a cube, or the Delian Problem. The problem
was to double the volume of a cube, given the side length of the original cube. This problem
appears in a Greek tale where the people of Athens asked the Oracle how to end the horrible
plague, and he told them to double the size of Apollo’s altar. They doubled all the lengths which
lead to an altar which was over the requested. This is the first recording of this problem in
history being attempted (Weisstein, 2009). Just as the other problems of antiquity, doubling a
cube was proven impossible under the given restrictions many years later. The problem cannot
be done with the restrictions because , which is the ratio of the original side length to the
object trying to be constructed, is not a Euclidean number. The first proof of this problem came
Although the construction rules have remained unchanging over time from Euclid’s
original three postulates; the tools have in some ways changed through time. This is a point of
much controversy. All of the changes are ambiguous. In the days of Euclid, the compass which
would be used would have been spring loaded and closed automatically when picked up off the
sheet of paper. But through time, compasses became more like the stiff, settable compasses
which mathematicians and students alike recognize today. Some people feel like changing the
functionality of the compass changes things which can be done with constructions. It is true that
changing the compass changes the capabilities of the mathematician; however the new stiffer
compasses can be very useful others argue and make constructing more time efficient.
Beyond the very minor changes made to the compass is a very significant one which has
begun to be used only over the past few years. This is the use of computer software to create
geometric constructions. That is the method which will be seen in the constructions in the latter
part of this paper. A few examples of this software are GeoGebra, and Geometers Sketchpad,
which are the programs used to create the drawings for this paper. However there are many
different available programs capable of creating these drawings. In the following section the
reader will be able to view some of the creations which this software has made.
Simple Constructions
This section will discuss several simple constructions that are the basis of all
and lines, constructing a perpendicular line through a point, a parallel line through a point, and
constructing a perpendicular bisector. Now here is the first of the simple constructions, the angle
bisector.
difficult multi-step constructions. One example of the use of this construction is above in Figure
1. In the Construction angle ABC is given and the goal is a simple bisection. First a compass, or
in the case of this example a circle maker on Geometers Sketchpad, is used to make a circle with
a center at vertex B and a radius of AB. Then another circle is made with the center point at A
and a radius of AD. The same process is used again but with the center at D instead of A. The
intersection of the last two circles created is point E. The last step is to draw a ray starting at
point B and going through point E. Ray BE is the angle bisector of angle ABC.
Constructing congruent might seem easy with a ruler. Yet these constructions are done
with a straight edge and a compass. That rule makes it slightly more difficult. Figure 2 above is
an example in which line segment DE is given. To start the construction you must draw a line
and label one point on it in this case G. You can then draw a circle with G as the center point
and DE as the radius. Where your circle intersects your created line is then labeled point H.
Creating congruent angles can be helpful to the creation of many regular polygons. This
is because of the fact that all regular polygons have all congruent angles and sides. As in the
construction in Figure 3 above you can create a congruent angle when given one angle in this
case angle ABC. The first step is to draw a circle which a center at point B and a radius of AB.
The intersection of that circle with line BC creates a new point which is labeled above as D.
Then line segment AD is drawn in. At this point the constructor would begin to create the
congruent angle. This process is begun by drawing a ray with a vertex of Y. Then you must
construct a circle with a center at Y and a radius of AB. Where that circle intersects the ray is
then labeled Z. You then create a circle with a center at Z and a radius of AD. Where the two
circles intersect is labeled point X. A line is the drawn from Y through X. The created angle
An equilateral triangle is the easiest regular polygon to create seeing as it has the least
number of sides of any polygon. Not only is it a very simple polygon construction it is also one
of the easier constructions over all. When given line segment FD as in Figure 4 above
construction you create one circle with a center at F and a diameter of FD. The same thing is then
done again with D as the center and the same radius. You then make point E at the intersection of
the two circles above line segment FD. Then you connect the three points and have created
create a perpendicular line can be very useful in the construction of many other objects. In
Figure 5 is one example of how to draw a perpendicular line through a specific point on a line.
In the example the given point is J. To start off you draw a circle with a center at point J and a
radius of E which is a point on the line AJ. The other point which the created circle intersects
line AJ is then labeled D. Then a circle is drawn with a center E and radius ED and another with
a center D and the same radius. Then the points at which the two circles intersect are connected
perpendicular line through a point. It also serves a very similar purpose in constructions as the
other construction. However it can be very useful for constructing the midpoint of a line
segment. That midpoint can serve many purposes such as creating a circle with a known
diameter, but an unknown center. All that is done for this construction is a circle which is
constructed with a center of A and a radius of AB and another circle with a center B and the
same radius. Then the two points where the circles intersect are connected forming the
perpendicular bisector.
Fig. 7 Parallel Lines
Constructing parallel lines is one of the more difficult of the simple constructions which
are represented in this paper. For the construction in Figure 7, line AB and point C are given.
To begin you must draw line AC. Then a circle with a center of A and radius AB must be
constructed. The point where that newly constructed circle intersects line AC is given the name
point D. Then Line DB is constructed by connecting the points. Then you move down to point
C and construct a circle with radius AB around it. The point at which this circle intersects line
AC which is not between A and C is point E. Then a circle is drawn with a center at E and a
radius DB. The intersection of the last two circles drawn is point F. A line is then drawn
difficult as you will see in this section. The challenging constructions include circumscribing
and inscribing a circle, constructing a golden triangle and the golden rectangles diagonal, not to
Fig. 8 Pentagram
pentagon may also be constructed. To start this construction you draw a circle in which the
pentagram will be constructed. The center point of this circle is point 0. Then a random point on
the circle is selected as A, this point will be the first vertex of your pentagram. A line is then
drawn which passes through O and A. The next step is to construct a line through point O that is
perpendicular to Line OA. The point where the newly constructed line intersects the circle is then
labeled B. The next step would be to find the midpoint of line segment OB. This point would be
labeled C. To find that midpoint in the above construction the mathematician created a
perpendicular bisector. Then using that point, C a circle would be constructed with a radius of
CA. Where this circle intersects OB within the original circle is labeled point D. Then another
circle is constructed with a center at A, and a radius of AD. The two points in which this circle
intersects the original circle are labeled E and F, and are the next two vertices of the pentagram.
Then another circle is constructed with a center at point C and a radius of CA. Its intersection
with the original circle is labeled G. The same thing is done again with the center at F rather
than E. The intersection this circle creates is labeled H. At this point to create a pentagon you
just connect point AEGHF. However to construct the pentagram you connect every other point
When you begin with one golden triangle you can create an infinite number of them with
only one simple construction. That construction is the angle bisector construction. The
instructions for the angle bisector construction, once again can be found in Figure 1. To
complete this construction you simply start at one angle and go around and around constructing
angle bisectors. If you had an infinite amount of time, and infinitely sharp lead you could
continue this method for ever seeing as there is an infinite number of golden triangles.
To construct the diagonal of the golden rectangle all that must be done is find the
midpoints of line AB and line CB. This can be done with the use of perpendicular bisectors.
Then with the midpoints as the centers and the radii as the midpoint to one of the corners you
construct two circles. The intersection of these two circles is then marked. To create the
diagonal all that must be done is connect that point to points A, B, and C.
Fig. 11 Inscribe circle in a triangle
broken down to make it simpler as in Figure 11. The first step that was done in Figure 11 was to
find two of the triangles angle bisectors. See Figure 1 for help with finding bisectors. Then the
point which was created by the intersection of the bisectors is selected and an altitude of that
point is found. This step is simply done by constructing a perpendicular line through a point. To
be refreshed on how to complete this step view Figure 5. Then the point in the triangle is used as
the center of the circle and the radius is that center point to the point of the altitudes intersection
with the base. That circle which is created is inscribed within the given triangle.
Fig. 12 Circumscribe a circle about a Triangle
review the method of constructing a perpendicular bisector return to Figure 6. In Figure twelve
you find all the perpendicular bisectors point of intersection. Then with this point as the center
and a radius that extends to any of the vertices of the triangle you can construct a circle which is
Conclusion
All the constructions which were presented in the above work are similar to those which
would have been done in the times of the great Greek geometers. Construction is not only
mathematical but it is also an art in the way which it is done. The mathematicians of ancient
times new construction inside and out when following Euclid’s rules. As apparent in the
problems of antiquity, those mathematicians could not solve all things as it took thousands of
years to complete those questions although the rules of Euclid were broken to do so. Although
the limits of Euclidean plane constructions have mostly been reached the field of construction is
far from gone. With all the new digital tools available which can be much more precise,