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ERIC Number: EJ862230
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Sep
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0746-8342
EISSN: N/A
Mechanical Circle-Squaring
Wagon, Stan; Cox, Barry
College Mathematics Journal, v40 n4 p238-247 Sep 2009
A technique discovered in 1939 can be used to build a device that is driven by standard circular motion (as in a drill press) and drills exact square holes. This device is quite different from the classic design by Watts, which uses a Reuleaux triangle and drills a hole that is almost, but not exactly, square. We describe the device in detail, deriving the equations needed to make a computer simulation. Then we investigate the extension to other polygons and show how the basic idea can be combined with some knowledge of envelopes to produce a device that traces out an exact hexagon. The simulations are available at http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/GenevaDriveMalteseCross, http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/DrillingASquareHole, http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/SquareHoleDrillInThreeDimensions, and http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/DrillingAHexagonalHole.
Mathematical Association of America. 1529 Eighteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-741-9415; Tel: 202-387-5200; Fax: 202-387-1208; e-mail: maahq@maa.org; Web site: http://www.maa.org/pubs/cmj.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A