Projects using circles
With the new fashions of today, more and more projects require the use of round or circular shapes. Or at least partial circular shapes. The intimidating part of using circles that will steer some builders clear, is finding a particular part (degree) of a circle or round shape easily. Some builders make an educated (eyeball) guess. Some builders choose to attempt to do the math by using trial and error (I have done this so many times!) and some builders choose to stay away from circles and round shapes all together.
Well I have got some great news that will ease the pain, and hopefully reassure builders that using circles and round shapes doesn't have to be hard! I will be showing everyone how to divide a circle into as many equally spaced segments as needed with ease. All you need is a flat tape measure (usually comes in 25 or 50 ft lengths) to measure the circumference (not the diameter) of a circle or round object, a calculator, pen and paper and a decimal into fraction conversion chart, which I will attach to this post.
Let's get started.
1) Using the flat tape measure, measure the circumference of the circle or round object. See below:
The circumference for those of you that haven't been exposed to round objects much; is measuring around the object. If you measure across the object, that will give you the diameter and half way across will give you the radius. So measure around the object and write that number down, including the fraction. For example: the circumference of this circle is 5 ft 3 5/16 inches (5' 3 5/16").
2) Now take your measurement (in my example 5' 3 5/16") and it will need to be converted into inches. This is when the conversion chart will first be used. Here is the chart:
So in my example: 5 feet = 36 inches, 3"= 3" and 5/16" = .3125". Now add this together (36+3+.3125 = 39.3125").
3) Now take your decimal measurement and divide it by 360. Why 360 you ask? Because 360 is how many degrees are in a circle. So in my example: 39.3125/360 = 0.10920138. Your answer will be the decimal measurement of 1 degree.
4) Now take your 1 degree measurement and multiply it times whatever degree you need. So in my example I want 90 degrees: 0.10920138 x 90 = 9.8281242". Now take the decimal part of the number and convert it back into a fraction. Use the fraction that is closest to your number. So in my example: .8281242 = 53/64" (53/64 is closest to the actual decimal number.)
And there you have it! Fast and easy. In my next blog, I will show you how to get the correct spacing on a circle when you don't know the degree and only know how many equal places you want to put something in/on the circle.
I hope this helps the builders out there that shy away from using round shapes and objects in their projects. Try this method a few times and it will become second nature... I assure you!
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