

Straight-edge and Compass Construction Kit - lygaret
http://sciencevsmagic.net/geo/

======
Zakharov
I managed to do Circle Pack 7 in one fewer than the minimum:
[http://sciencevsmagic.net/geo/#0A1.1A0.0L1.1L5.5A1.5L8.0L4.5...](http://sciencevsmagic.net/geo/#0A1.1A0.0L1.1L5.5A1.5L8.0L4.5A4.8L9.5L6.6L12.5A0.17A2.5L11.16A10.5L7.7L24.5L23.25A22.15A8.26A3)

~~~
pleion
Well Done! As with most elegant solutions, yours is so simple that I can't
believe I didn't see it earlier!

The minimum scores are from the simplest solutions I came up with during
development, I was waiting for someone to best me.

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anigbrowl
As a member of the Geometric Cult, I love it, but when my mouse is a dot it's
almost impossible to see.

~~~
pleion
I've rewritten the custom cursor CSS for the grab hand, hopefully it works
now.

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jessaustin
Possible bug?

[http://sciencevsmagic.net/geo/#1A0.0A1.0L1.1L4.0L5.3L2.3A6.2...](http://sciencevsmagic.net/geo/#1A0.0A1.0L1.1L4.0L5.3L2.3A6.2A6.3L4.4A18.1A23)

Didn't update circle pack 3, 9 moves in origin circle for me. This is the
first one I've encountered that doesn't seem to work.

This is really cool!

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th0114nd
AFAICT, it isn't very intuitive on how to get started. Why am I told how to
undo and redo, when I'm not told how to do?

~~~
AjithAntony
If the cursor was larger than a single pixel, it would make it easier to
guess.

Edit: Tiny cursor in chrome. Firefox looks ok.

~~~
pleion
Hi, developer here. I'm not sure why it would give you a single pixel cursor.
It should use the pointer (when you are over a point) and a grab hand (for
when you are over the background).

I've probably done something a stupid way somewhere and it's not working in
certain cases. What browser/os are you using?

EDIT: My chrome is okay (windows 7) but I'll check out a few others. Does the
cursor always come out tiny or only in place of one of the pointer/grab hand?

~~~
bdamm
My chrome is OK too (Mac OS), pointer/hand seems to work. Cool bit of work!

~~~
14113
Not ok for me (Arch Linux), in fact, not even a single pixel, no cursor at
all!

~~~
pleion
Hmm. Sorry about that. I didn't see it at all during development. I'll do some
testing on my Linux Machine when I get home, and can hopefully get it fixed
soon.

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siddboots
Beautiful! I've had a project like this in the back of my mind for a long
time. Give me the ability to define macros/subroutines, and this would be the
perfect way to study _Elements_.

Edit: I'm a bit stuck on Circle Pack 4 in 12 moves.

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tfgg
What does "in origin circle" in the challenges mean? I drew a triangle inside
a circle and it didn't seem to recognise it.

~~~
DanielStraight
I was confused at first as well. It means a circle with its center one of the
original two points you are given.

At least I thought so... shouldn't this be circle pack 7 in origin circle?

[http://sciencevsmagic.net/geo/#0A1.1A0.2A3.4A0.6A1.14A4.5A1....](http://sciencevsmagic.net/geo/#0A1.1A0.2A3.4A0.6A1.14A4.5A1.4A2.25A7.7A1.1A6.54A2.26A14.67A6.48A3.56A20.0A87)

Not detected as such.

~~~
pleion
It actually must be a circle with its centre one of the original two points
AND the other point on it's edge (so it's one of the two possible first
circles you can draw). Sorry that that wasn't clear enough.

~~~
jessaustin
Thanks for the update! I've replaced one confusion with another... b^)

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epsylon
I just can't construct the damn square in 8 steps : I always need at least
9...

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pechay
A compass tells you where north is. A pair of compasses is used to draw
circles.

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thetwiceler
Somebody construct a 17-gon!

~~~
thetwiceler
[http://sciencevsmagic.net/geo/#0A1.0L1.1L2.2A1.1A2.4L0.7A0.9...](http://sciencevsmagic.net/geo/#0A1.0L1.1L2.2A1.1A2.4L0.7A0.9L10.16A0.0A16.26L25.1L30.30A1.30L55.1A55.55A1.30L87.109A1.55A109.30L128.133L151.151A133.133A151.30L188.30A0.238A0.0A238.30L276.290A1.1A290.373L372.390A1.133A438.471A0.504A0.0A504.471L567.471L595.595A399.399A595.0L710.N.595L739.739L399.739A399.399A739.399L852.852A399.852L676.676L1.1A676.595A739.595L1029.1029A595.1029L622.622A1029.622L1148.1148A622.1148L1212.1212A1148.1212L1273.1273A1212.1273L1330.1330A1273.1330L1385.1385A1330.1385L1442.1442A1385.1442L1506.1506A1442.1506L1573.1573A1506.1573L1644.676A852)

Ahh! Well you can't say I didn't try. Must have accidentally hit one of the
wrong points somewhere in the construction...

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davnola
This is so much fun. Thanks!

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derleth
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass-and-
straightedge_constr...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass-and-
straightedge_construction)

Things you can't do with this tool:

> Squaring the circle: Drawing a square the same area as a given circle.

> Doubling the cube: Drawing a cube with twice the volume of a given cube.

> Trisecting the angle: Dividing a given angle into three smaller angles all
> of the same size.

Understanding _why_ we can know that these things are _absolutely impossible_
is an important part of understanding what formal systems mean and, therefore,
the philosophy of mathematics as a whole.

OTOH, getting into arguments with people who claim to have solved those
problems is a wonderful introduction to what 'crankery' means in a
mathematical context.

[http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/09/science/genius-or-
gibberis...](http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/09/science/genius-or-gibberish-
the-strange-world-of-the-math-crank.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm)

[http://www.crank.net/maths.html](http://www.crank.net/maths.html)

[http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Pseudomathematics](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Pseudomathematics)

[http://scientopia.org/blogs/goodmath/tag/cantor-
crank/](http://scientopia.org/blogs/goodmath/tag/cantor-crank/)

[http://meta.math.stackexchange.com/questions/136/how-to-
deal...](http://meta.math.stackexchange.com/questions/136/how-to-deal-with-
cranks)

~~~
IanCal
> Trisecting the angle: Dividing a given angle into three smaller angles all
> of the same size.

Unless you allow an infinite number of steps. The limit of the series 1/2 -
1/4 + 1/8 - 1/16... is 1/3 so you can get to it by repeatedly bisecting
angles.

Your paper will look quite messy after an infinite number of steps however.

