Distance from a point to a line the perpendicular "R". Draw the vertical line through "P" and label its intersection with the given line "S". At any point "T" on the line, draw a right triangle "TVU" whose sides are horizontal and vertical line segments with hypotenuse "TU" on the given line and horizontal side of length |"B"| (see diagram). The vertical side of ∆"TVU" will have length |"A"| since the line has slope -"A"/"B". ∆"PRS" and ∆"TVU" are similar triangles, since they are both right triangles and ∠"PSR" ≅ ∠"TUV" since they are corresponding angles of a transversal to the parallel lines "PS" and "UV" (both
Measurement of a Circle be produced by an iterative geometrical construction suggested by Archimedes' Stomachion in the setting of the regular dodecagon. In this case, the task is to give rational approximations to the tangent of π/12. Measurement of a Circle Measurement of a Circle or Dimension of the Circle (Greek: , "Kuklou metrēsis") is a treatise that consists of three propositions by Archimedes, ca. 250 BCE. The treatise is only a fraction of what was a longer work. Proposition one states: The area of any circle is equal to a right-angled triangle in which one of the sides about the right angle is