Some Special Angles

By using a protractor, we can draw angles of any magnitude. But some angles,
like 30o , 60o ,120o ,90o , 45o ,135o ,150o etc can be drawn by using a ruler and
compasses also. This is why these are called special angles.

1. Construct an angle of 60o .

Steps of construction

1. Draw a ray BP.

2. With B as centre and a convenient radius, draw an arc cutting the ray BP at C.

3. With C as centre and with the same radius, draw a small arc to cut the arc
drawn in step 2 at A.

4. Join BA. m∠ABC = 60o

2. To construct an angle of 30o

Steps of construction
1. Construct an angle of 60o

2. Bisect the angle. Each of the bisected angles is equal to 30o .

3. To construct an angle of 120o .

Steps of construction

1. Draw a ray AB.

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2. With A as centre and any convenient radius, draw an arc cutting AB at C.

3. With C as centre and the same radius, draw another arc cutting the previous
arc at D.
4. With D as centre and the same radius, draw another arc cutting the first arc at
E.

5. Join BE and extend it to F.

6. ∠BAF = 120o

4. To construct an angle of 90o

Steps of construction

1. Draw a line AB. Mark a point P on it.

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2. With P as centre and a convenient radius, draw a long arc cutting AB at X.

3. With X as centre and the same radius, cut the above arc at Y.

4. Again with Y as centre, with the same radius cut the same arc at Z.

5. Now with Y and Z as centers, with any convenient radius cut two arcs to cut
each other at Q.

6. Join PQ.
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PQ is the perpendicular on AB at P. It makes an angle of 90o with PB . Hence
∠QPB = 90o

5. To construct an angle of 45o

Steps of construction

1. Construct ∠AOB = 90o

2. Using ruler and compasses, bisect it.

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3. OX is the bisector of ∠AOB . Thus ∠AOX = ∠XOB = 45o

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