Math Open Reference
| After doing this | Your work should look like this |
|---|---|
| We start with the given circle, center O.
Note: If you are not given the center, you can find it using the method shown in Finding the center of a circle with compass and straightedge. |
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| 1. Mark a point anywhere on the circle. This will be the first vertex of the hexagon. |  |
| 2. Set the compass on this point and set the width of the compass to the center of the circle. The compass is now set to the radius of the circle |  |
| 3. Make an arc across the circle. This will be the next vertex of the hexagon.
(It turns out that the side length of a hexagon is equal to its circumradius - the distance from the center to a vertex). |
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| 4. Move the compass on to the next vertex and draw another arc. This is the third vertex of the hexagon. |  |
| 5. Continue in this way until you have all six vertices. |  |
| 6. Draw a line between each successive pairs of vertices, for a total of six lines. |  |
| 6. Done. These lines form a regular hexagon inscribed in the given circle. |