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In mathematics, a constructible polygon is a regular polygon that can be constructed with compass and straightedge. For example, a regular pentagon is constructible with compass and straightedge while a regular heptagon is not. There are infinitely many constructible polygons, but only 31 with an odd number of sides are known.
Articles related to constructible regular polygons, i.e. those amenable to compass and straightedge construction. Carl Friedrich Gauss proved that a regular polygon is constructible if its number of sides has no odd prime factors that are not Fermat primes, and no odd prime factors that are raised to a power of 2 or higher.
The points of may now be used to link the geometry and algebra by defining a constructible number to be a coordinate of a constructible point. [ 8 ] Equivalent definitions are that a constructible number is the x {\displaystyle x} -coordinate of a constructible point ( x , 0 ) {\displaystyle (x,0)} [ 9 ] or the length of a constructible line ...
Publication by C. F. Gauss in Intelligenzblatt der allgemeinen Literatur-Zeitung. As 17 is a Fermat prime, the regular heptadecagon is a constructible polygon (that is, one that can be constructed using a compass and unmarked straightedge): this was shown by Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1796 at the age of 19. [1]
As a corollary of this, one finds that the degree of the minimal polynomial for a constructible point (and therefore of any constructible length) is a power of 2. In particular, any constructible point (or length) is an algebraic number, though not every algebraic number is constructible; for example, 3 √ 2 is algebraic but not constructible. [3]
Some regular polygons are easy to construct with compass and straightedge; other regular polygons are not constructible at all. The ancient Greek mathematicians knew how to construct a regular polygon with 3, 4, or 5 sides, [11]: p. xi and they knew how to construct a regular polygon with double the number of sides of a given regular polygon.
In geometry, a polygon (/ ˈ p ɒ l ɪ ɡ ɒ n /) is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its edges or sides. The points where two edges meet are the polygon's vertices or corners. An n-gon is a polygon with n sides; for example, a triangle is a 3 ...
The regular 65537-gon (one with all sides equal and all angles equal) is of interest for being a constructible polygon: that is, it can be constructed using a compass and an unmarked straightedge. This is because 65,537 is a Fermat prime , being of the form 2 2 n + 1 (in this case n = 4).