Construction of Tangent to a Cirlce.

Construction of Tangents to a circle

There are two steps involved in Construction of Tangents to a circle at a given point.

(i) When the centre of the circle is known.

(ii) When the centre of the circle is Unknown.

Case (i) When centre is known:-

Following steps needs to be followed while constructing a tangent when its centre is known.

Step 1:- Take a point O on the plane of the paper and draw a circle of given radius.

Step 2:- Take a point P on the circle.

Step 3:- Join OP.

Step 4:- Construct angle OPT = 90 degrees.

Step 5:- Produce TP to tangent T to get tangent TPT as the required tangent.

Case (ii) When centre is Unknown.

Following steps needs to be followed while constructing a tangent when its centre is Unknown.

Step 1:- Draw any chord PQ through the given point P on the circle.

Step 2:- Join P and Q to a point R either in the major arc or in the minor arc.

Step 3:- Construct angle QPY equal to angle PRQ and on the opposite side of the chord PQ.

Step 4:- Produce YP to X and get YPX as the required tangent.

The required construction is ready. Try it am sure you will like it..