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 point O.
2. Connect points O and C.
3. Extend line OC with the length of the
extension equal to line OC. Label the other
end as D.
4. Bisect line OD. Label the intersections as E
and F.
5. Line EF is tangent to arc AB.
 LINE TANGENT TO THE POINT
ON AN ARC
• Given: Arc AB and point C

B
 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

+ C
O
 +
O D C
 ARC OF RADIUS R TANGENT TO A
POINT ON A LINE

• Given: Line AB and radius R

R
A

B
 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.
 A

D C

B
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 radius R

B
 A

O C

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.
 R

O
 ARC INTERNALLY TANGENT TO
ANOTHER ARC
• Given: Circle O and radius R
R
 LINE INTERNALLY TANGENT TO
TWO CIRCLES

1. Connect points O and P.

2. Draw line perpendicular to point O 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.
 M

O
 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

+ +P
O
 LINE EXTERNALLY TANGENT TO
TWO CIRCLES

1. Connect points O and P.

2. Subtract the radius of the smaller circle from
the radius of the bigger and let it be r.
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 points A and B.
6. Draw lines AP and BP.
 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

+ +P
O
 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.
 SMOOTH CURVE
• Given: line

A
O

T
R

S
 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 O.
4. Using point and radius OA a draw the arc.
5. Repeat the steps.