How To Construct A 30 Degree Angle With Compass And Straightedge ...

Math Open Reference Home Contact About Subject Index Constructing a 30° angle

This page shows how to construct (draw) a 30 degree angle with compass and straightedge or ruler. It works by first creating a rhombus and then a diagonal of that rhombus. Using the properties of a rhombus it can be shown that the angle created has a measure of 30 degrees. See the proof below for more on this.

Printable step-by-step instructions

The above animation is available as a printable step-by-step instruction sheet, which can be used for making handouts or when a computer is not available.

Proof

This construction works by creating a rhombus. Its two diagonals form four 30-60-90 triangles.

The image below is the final drawing above with the red items added.

Argument	Reason
1	Line segments PT, TR, RS, PS, TS are congruent (5 red lines)	All created with the same compass width.
2	PTRS is a rhombus.	A rhombus is a quadrilateral with four congruent sides.
3	Line segment AS is half the length of TS, and angle PAS is a right angle	Diagonals of a rhombus bisect each other at right angles. See Rhombus definition.
4	Line segment AS is half the length of PS	PS is congruent to TS. See (1), (3)
5	Triangle ∆PAS is a 30-60-90 triangle.	∆PAS is a right triangle with two sides in the ratio 1:2. (third side would be √3 by pythagoras).
6	Angle APS has a measure of 30°.	In any triangle, smallest angle is opposite shortest side.

- Q.E.D

Try it yourself

Click here for a printable worksheet containing two 30° angle exercises. When you get to the page, use the browser print command to print as many as you wish. The printed output is not copyright.

Other constructions pages on this site

• List of printable constructions worksheets

Lines

• Introduction to constructions
• Copy a line segment
• Sum of n line segments
• Difference of two line segments
• Perpendicular bisector of a line segment
• Perpendicular at a point on a line
• Perpendicular from a line through a point
• Perpendicular from endpoint of a ray
• Divide a segment into n equal parts
• Parallel line through a point (angle copy)
• Parallel line through a point (rhombus)
• Parallel line through a point (translation)

Angles

• Bisecting an angle
• Copy an angle
• Construct a 30° angle
• Construct a 45° angle
• Construct a 60° angle
• Construct a 90° angle (right angle)
• Sum of n angles
• Difference of two angles
• Supplementary angle
• Complementary angle
• Constructing 75° 105° 120° 135° 150° angles and more

Triangles

• Copy a triangle
• Isosceles triangle, given base and side
• Isosceles triangle, given base and altitude
• Isosceles triangle, given leg and apex angle
• Equilateral triangle
• 30-60-90 triangle, given the hypotenuse
• Triangle, given 3 sides (sss)
• Triangle, given one side and adjacent angles (asa)
• Triangle, given two angles and non-included side (aas)
• Triangle, given two sides and included angle (sas)
• Triangle medians
• Triangle midsegment
• Triangle altitude
• Triangle altitude (outside case)

Right triangles

• Right Triangle, given one leg and hypotenuse (HL)
• Right Triangle, given both legs (LL)
• Right Triangle, given hypotenuse and one angle (HA)
• Right Triangle, given one leg and one angle (LA)

Triangle Centers

• Triangle incenter
• Triangle circumcenter
• Triangle orthocenter
• Triangle centroid

Circles, Arcs and Ellipses

• Finding the center of a circle
• Circle given 3 points
• Tangent at a point on the circle
• Tangents through an external point
• Tangents to two circles (external)
• Tangents to two circles (internal)
• Incircle of a triangle
• Focus points of a given ellipse
• Circumcircle of a triangle

Polygons

• Square given one side
• Square inscribed in a circle
• Hexagon given one side
• Hexagon inscribed in a given circle
• Pentagon inscribed in a given circle

Non-Euclidean constructions

• Construct an ellipse with string and pins
• Find the center of a circle with any right-angled object

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