Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to Question: how do you find 3 points on a plywood circle 120 degrees apart, without a protractor?

Yes, there is a way!

This is not trisecting an angle (which IS impossiible!). This is an inscribed polygon in a circle, and there's a formula in the "Mensuration Formulae" section of the CRC that shows you how.

s = 2R sin (180/n)

where

n is the number of sides of the polygon
R is the radius of the circle
s = the length of each side of the polygon

The polygon we are seeking is an equilateral triangle, so each side will be a a line segment 2R sin (60) in length. Just cut a piece of stick of length s and use it as a chord of the circle to locate the vertices.

Each side of the triangle will be R x 1.73205080757.

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