How to Draw a Circle Given Three Points

Posted by Unknown on Saturday, February 8, 2014

Given just three points, you can draw the perfect circle. This neat trick can be useful if you're not able to use a compass or trace around a suitable sized round object.

Edit Steps

Start with three points. Draw three points on a piece of paper approximating the size of the circle you wish to draw.

Using a straight edge, draw two line segments connecting two points per segment.

Draw the perpendicular bisector of the segments you have drawn.
- The intersection of the perpendicular bisectors is the center of the circle.

Draw a circle with the radius from the center of the circle to a point given.

Erase the perpendicular bisectors and draw another line segment connecting the two points, forming a triangle. Or, simply erase all the lines and you have your circle.