Euclid's Muse

your source for INTERACTIVE math apps

Trammels

Archimedes Trammel is a device for drawing ellipses.

Tags: trammel, ellipse, archimedes

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Trammel foci
Trammel foci
Altering |AB| and |AC| changes the ellipse. Can you find a relationship between |AB|, AC| and |DE|, the distance between the foci?

Tags: ellipse, foci, trammel, principal-axes

Inverted Trammel
Inverted Trammel
Archimedes trammel draws an ellipse if you fix the base and move the handle. What happens if you fix the handle and move the base? Drag point D to find out. See the curve.

Tags: trammel, ellipse

Inverted Trammel 2
Inverted Trammel 2
Archimedes trammel draws an ellipse if used properly. Turning the trammel upside down gives a curve which is certainly not an ellipse.

Tags: Trammel-2

supertrammel
supertrammel
Archimedes Trammel has 2 sliders and 1 degree of freedom.  This ”supertrammel” has 3 sliders and still has 1 degree of freedom.  We made one out of wood and enjoyed playing with it. You can play with this electronic reproduction.

Tags: trammel, cycloid

Trammel Clock
Trammel Clock
A clock from Archimedes Trammel.

Tags: trammel, archimedes, ellipse


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