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Spokes

Age 16 to 18
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spokes
You know what the area of the four parts must be.

Think about symmetrical drawings.

Can you draw three lines inside the circle in such a way that they enclose an area which can be expanded or contracted to give the required area?

The Solution section gives one possibility (see link above). There are many other possibilities you could investigate.

Here is just one alternative line of approach you could pursue:

The diagram shows another solution for 3 lines but the same principle applies to any regular polygon. For an $n$-gon the angle marked at the centre of the circle $C$ will be ${\pi \over n}$. As $n$ gets larger the polygons will get smaller and the lines will 'radiate' out more like the spokes of a wheel.


In general, if $L_n$ is the length of the spoke with $n$ spokes, $x_n$ the length of the edge of the polygon in the centre and $r_n$ the radius of the circumcircle of the polygon,then $$L_n = {x_n\over 2} + \sqrt {1 - (r_n\cos {\pi\over n})^2}$$ so that$L_n \to 1$ as $n\to \infty$.\par For $n=3$, $L_n \approx 1.595$; for $n=20$, $L_n\approx 1.011$ and for ${n=30}$, $L_n\approx 1.003$.

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By inscribing a circle in a square and then a square in a circle find an approximation to pi. By using a hexagon, can you improve on the approximation?

A Rational Search

Investigate constructible images which contain rational areas.

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The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice.

NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.

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