Subject:
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Re: Here's looking at Euclid
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.geek
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Date:
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Tue, 1 Aug 2000 17:38:42 GMT
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Viewed:
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196 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.fun, John Gramley writes:
> In lugnet.off-topic.fun, Dave Schuler writes:
> > Given two points on a circle, can one compute the diameter of the circle if
> > the distance between the two points is known?
> Well, I have a B.A. in math, but I think this should be a simple enough
> answer: you can't.
>
> The main explanation is that it generally takes three distinct points to
> determine a unique circle. You can get away with two distinct points only if
> you know something else about them, like that they're endpoints of the
> diameter.
Yeah, I was afraid of that. Believe it or not, almost immediately after I
posted I was sitting at a circular table with a can of Coke, and I realized
that the same 1 1/2 inch that defines the diameter of the can only describes a
tiny portion of the table's circumference. Oops.
Do I understand you correctly that with three points we could calculate the
circle? Would you mind giving a brief (if possible) description of the
process in that case?
Thanks again,
Dave!
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Here's looking at Euclid
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| (...) The process depends on whether you want a numerical process or a construction process. I'm going to assume that you want a numerical process and that you know the coordinates of the three points. If you want a construction process to be able (...) (24 years ago, 2-Aug-00, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Here's looking at Euclid
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| (...) [x-post and f.u.t. to off-topic.geek since this could get complicated] Well, I have a B.A. in math, but I think this should be a simple enough answer: you can't. The main explanation is that it generally takes three distinct points to (...) (24 years ago, 1-Aug-00, to lugnet.off-topic.fun, lugnet.off-topic.geek)
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