Geometric Construction 3

Tangent Lines
Tangent Arcs

TANGENT LINES

LINE TANGENT TO THE

POINT
ON
AN
ARC
1. Find the center of the arc, label it
2.
3.

4.
5.

point O.
Connect points O and C.
Extend line OC with the length of
the extension equal to line OC.
Label the other end as D.
Bisect line OD. Label the
intersections as E and F.
Line EF is tangent to arc AB.

LINE TANGENT TO THE

POINT
ON AN ARC

Given: Arc AB and point C

A

LINE TANGENT TO THE

POINT
ON AN ARC

Given: Arc AB and point C

A

LINE TANGENT TO AN ARC

PASSING THROUGH A POINT
OUTSIDE THE ARC
1. Find the center of an arc. Label the
point as O.
2. Connect points O and C.
3. Bisect line OC. Label the midpoint
as D.
4. Using D as center and OD as radius,
draw an arc intersecting arc Circle
O. Label the intersection as E.
5. Connect point E to point C. Line EC
is tangent to arc AB.

LINE TANGENT TO AN ARC

PASSING THROUGH A POINT
OUTSIDE THE ARC
Given: Arc AB and point C

+
O

+
O

ARC OF RADIUS R
TANGENT TO A POINT ON A
LINE

Given: Line AB and radius R

R

ARC OF RADIUS R
TANGENT TO A POINT ON A
LINE

1. Draw a line perpendicular to line AB

passing through point C.
2. Using B as center and radius R,
draw an arc intersecting the
perpendicular line at point D.
3. Using D as center, draw the circle.

ARC TANGENT TO A POINT ON

A LINE PASSINGTHROUGH A
POINT OUTSIDE THE LINE.
1. Draw a line perpendicular to line AB
passing through point C.
2. Connect point P and point C.
3. Bisect line CP. Label the intersection
of line CB and CP as O.
4. Using O as center and radius equal
to OC, draw a circle.

ARC TANGENT TO A POINT ON

A LINE PASSINGTHROUGH A
POINT OUTSIDE THE LINE.
Given: Line AB and point P
A

C
P
B

P
B

ARC EXTERNALLY
TANGENT TO ANOTHER
ARC
Given: Circle O and radius R
R

ARC EXTERNALLY
TANGENT TO ANOTHER
ARC
1. Find the center of the arc. Label the
center as O.
2. Add the radius of circle O and the
given radius R name the new radius
as M.
3. Using O as center and radius M,
draw a circle. Anywhere on the
drawn circle is the center of the
circle that is externally tangent to
the given arc.

ARC INTERNALLY
TANGENT TO ANOTHER
ARC
Given: Circle O and radius R
R

ARC INTERNALLY
TANGENT TO ANOTHER
ARC
1. Find the center of the arc. Label the
center as O.
2. Subtract the given radius from the
radius of circle O, name the new
radius as M.
3. Using O as center and radius M,
draw a circle. Anywhere on the
drawn circle is the center of the
circle that is internally tangent to
the given arc.

R
M
O

LINE INTERNALLY TANGENT

TO TWO CIRCLES
Given: Circles O and P

+P

LINE INTERNALLY TANGENT

TO TWO CIRCLES
1. Connect points O and P.
2. Draw line perpendicular to Line OP
and intersecting the circle at point
A. Repeat the step using point P
intersecting the circle at point B.
3. Connect point A to point B. Label
the intersection of Line AB and Line
OP as C.

LINE INTERNALLY TANGENT

TO TWO CIRCLES
4. Using point C as a common point
outside of both circles, and the
procedure for determining point of
tangency of a line to a circle, locate
point T1 on circle O and T2 on circle
P.
5. Connect T1 and T2. Line T1T2 is
tangent to circles O and P.

LINE INTERNALLY TANGENT

TO TWO CIRCLES
Given: Circles O and P
A

T
1

T
1
C

+P
T2
T2

LINE EXTERNALLY
TANGENT TO TWO CIRCLES
Given: Circles O and P

+P

LINE EXTERNALLY
TANGENT TO TWO CIRCLES
1. Connect points O and P.
2. Subtract the radius of the smaller
circle (r2) from the radius of the
bigger(r1) and let it be r3.
3. Determine the midpoint M of line
OP.
4. Using O as center and radius r,
draw a circle.
5. Using M as center and radius OM,
draw an arc intersecting circle O at

LINE EXTERNALLY
TANGENT TO TWO CIRCLES
7. Draw perpendicular lines from
points A, B and P that intersects
circle O at points 1 and 2 and circle
P at points 3 and 4.
8. Connect point 1 and 3, and points 2
and 4. These are the external
tangents.

LINE EXTERNALLY
TANGENT TO TWO CIRCLES
Given: Circles O and P
T1
T1
A

r1

r3
+

r2
M

+P

B
T2

r3 = r1 - r2

T2

SMOOTH CURVE
Given: line
A

O
Q
P
T

SMOOTH CURVE
1. Using O as center and radius equal
to OA, strike an arc intersecting line
OP at point B.
2. Draw perpendicular lines to points A
and B.
3. The intersection of the two
perpendiculars is the center of the
arc. Label it C.
4. Using point and radius CA a draw
the arc.

SMOOTH CURVE
Given: line
A
O
C

P
T