Drawing Regular Polygons

If you need to draw a regular polygon, such as a hexagon or a pentagon, you can use the Polygon tool in the 2D Draw control panel. This tool creates a polyline in the shape of a regular polygon.

The default method for drawing regular polygons is as follows:

1. Click the Polygon tool in the 2D Draw control panel, choose Draw è Polygon, or enter pol↲ at the command prompt.

2. At the Enter number of sides <4>: prompt, enter the number of sides you want for your polygon.

3. At the Specify center of polygon or [Edge]: prompt, select the center point for the polygon.

4. At the Enter an option [Inscribed in circle/Circumscribed about circle] <I>: prompt, press ↲ to specify the distance from the center to a vertex of the polygon. You can also enter C↲ if you want to specify the distance from the center to a point tangent to one side of the polygon (see Figure 3.21).

5. At the Specify radius of circle: prompt, enter a radius value. This value, in conjunction with the option you select in step 4, determines the size of the polygon. Once you enter a radius, the polygon appears in the drawing.

Figure 3.21: The polygon on the left uses the Inscribed in circle option in step 4, and the polygon on the right uses the Circumscribed about circle option. The radius is the same for both images.

You also have the option to specify the size of the polygon based on the length of one side of the polygon. To do this, enter E↲ at the prompt in step 3. You will see the following prompt:

 Specify first endpoint of edge: 

Select a point. You'll then see the following prompt:

 Specify second endpoint of edge: 

You'll also see the polygon follow the cursor with one vertex on the point you selected at the first endpoint prompt.

Select a point to place the polygon in the drawing. Remember that you can specify a relative coordinate to specify an exact length for the side of the polygon.