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POLYGONS AND CIRCLES |
| Section: Geometry | |
| 1. CIRCLES AND POLYGONS (5-sided) | ||
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In the following window you can see that a regular polygon is found inside a circle that passes through all its vertices. This circle is called the circumscribed circle. There is also a circle which forms a tangent with the midpoints (M) of the sides which is called the inscribed circle. |
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1.- Rotate this polygon until the circumscribed and inscribed circles are drawn.
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| 2. CIRCLES AND POLYGONS (4 and 8-sided) | ||
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In the following window you can see the circumscribed and inscribed circles of two polygons: a 4-sided one and an 8-sided one. |
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| 1.-
Note that the more
sides the polygon has, the closer it is in shape to the circle that
circumscribes it.
2.- What are the circles like that circumscribe the square and the octagon?
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| 3. CIRCLES AND POLYGONS (20-sided) | |||
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In the following window you can see the circumscribed and inscribed circle of a 20-sided polygon. |
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1.- Rotate the 20-sided polygon until the circumscribed and inscribed circles are drawn. 2.- Don't you think the polygon looks like a circle? It almost fits perfectly between the circumscribed and inscribed circles.
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| Agustín Muñoz Núñez | ||
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| Spanish Ministry of Education. Year 2001 | ||
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