Right angle Right angle In geometry and trigonometry, a right angle is an angle of exactly 90° (degrees), corresponding to a quarter turn. If a ray is placed so that its endpoint is on a line and the adjacent angles are equal, then they are right angles. The term is a calque of Latin "angulus rectus"; here "rectus" means "upright", referring to the vertical perpendicular to a horizontal base line. Closely related and important geometrical concepts are perpendicular lines, meaning lines that form right angles at their point of intersection, and orthogonality, which is the property of forming right angles, usually applied
Angle trisection drawn through formula_25 to the semicircle, resulting in the intersection formula_28. The angle formula_48 generated by formula_49 and formula_50 is the angle formula_51 sought. Another means to trisect an arbitrary angle by a "small" step outside the Greek framework is via a ruler with two marks a set distance apart. The next construction is originally due to Archimedes, called a "Neusis construction", i.e., that uses tools other than an "un-marked" straightedge. The diagrams we use show this construction for an acute angle, but it indeed works for any angle up to 180 degrees. This requires three facts from geometry (at