Finding The Center Of A Circle
Decorating By artscallion Updated 14 May 2010 , 4:03am by BlakesCakes
Just came across this great illustration for a common and easy way to of finding the center of a circle. I know I often need to find the dead center of the top of my cake for a particular design. This is a good explanation of what I usually do to find it. Thought I'd share it with you.
http://www.mathopenref.com/constcirclecenter2.html
All I know is I had a heck of a time one day. I thought I remembered from high school geometry something about using the compass to mark arcs and draw across from those.....It has been 40+ years since high school and it just wasn't working. I had the whole thing marked up like a mess. I finally just eye-balled it and got close enough for what I needed.
Do you not just measure the diameter and divide by 2?
That only works if the diameter you're measuring crosses through the exact center point of the circle. And if you already think you know where that is, to lay out your diameter for measuring, there's no need to measure anything, your way or mine.
But the point of this method is to find the precise center for precise designs. You can't do that by eyeballing where the diameter is and measuring. This tells you exactly where the diameter should be.
I cut a circle of parchment the size of the circle and fold it in half twice, place it on the top of the cake and make a mark where the 2 lines cross.
I save the parchment piece to line the bottom of the pan for the next use....
Rae
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