Compass (drawing tool)
Drafting instrument / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the drafting instrument. For other uses, see Compass (disambiguation).
A compass, more accurately known as a pair of compasses, is a technical drawing instrument that can be used for inscribing circles or arcs. As dividers, it can also be used as a tool to mark out distances, in particular, on maps. Compasses can be used for mathematics, drafting, navigation and other purposes.
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Prior to computerization, compasses and other tools for manual drafting were often packaged as a set[1] with interchangeable parts. By the mid-twentieth century, circle templates supplemented the use of compasses.[citation needed] Today those facilities are more often provided by computer-aided design programs, so the physical tools serve mainly a didactic purpose in teaching geometry, technical drawing, etc.