How To Construct A Rhombus With A Compass & Straight Edge

A rhombus is a quadrilateral that has two pairs of parallel, congruent sides. To construct this shape, you can use the centers and points on three overlapping circles to determine the rhombus' vertices and then connect these vertices to form its sides. In order to construct the shape accurately, you will need a compass to create perfect circles around a given center point and a straight edge to connect the resulting vertices.

Step 1

Draw a line the length of one side of the rhombus using a ruler. Name the endpoints A and B.

Step 2

Adjust the width of the compass so that it equals the length of the line.

Step 3

Anchor the compass on point A and draw a circle that runs through point B. Name it circle A.

Step 4

Make a point on the arc of the circle and name it C.

Step 5

Erase circle A, but leave point C.

Step 6

Anchor the compass on point C and draw a circle. Name it circle C.

Step 7

Anchor the compass on point B and draw another circle. Name it circle B.

Step 8

Construct point D at the intersection of circles B and C.

Step 9

Connect points A and C with a straight edge. Then do the same for points C and D and D and B.

Step 10

Erase the circles. You are left with a rhombus.