Divide a circle into 12 equal parts?

Answer 1

Use a pair of compasses to draw a circle. Without changing the compasses, place the point of the compasses on the circumference and draw a small arc such that it intersects the circumference. Put the point on this intersection and repeat until you have 6 equally spaced "intersections". Select 2 adjacent intersections and, from each of them, draw an arc outside the circumference such that the 2 arcs intersect. Draw a line from this intersection to the centre of the circle. This line intersects the circumference halfway between the adjacent points. With the compasses set to the original radius of the circle (it's better to leave them fixed at this throughout!) place the compasses' point on the intersection of the straight line and the circumference then draw a series of arcs, as you did originally. These will complete the division by 12