Arcs of a Circle - How it Works

Arcs of a Circle - Major vs Minor Arcs - How it Works - Video

Example 1

Example 1:

A major Arc is an arc that is more than 180°, and a minor arc is less than 180°. When we write major arcs, we need 3 letters to denote the path the arc is going, since it is more than 180°, it could go clockwise or anti-clockwise. When we write minor arcs, we only need two letters to denote the path the arc is going. It will always be the short path for minor arcs.

So our major arc in this example is arc BAC and our minor arc is BC.

Example 2

Example 2:

A major Arc is an arc that is more than 180°, and a minor arc is less than 180°. When we write major arcs, we need 3 letters to denote the path the arc is going, since it is more than 180°, it could go clockwise or anti-clockwise. When we write minor arcs, we only need two letters to denote the path the arc is going. It will always be the short path for minor arcs.

We don't have any major or minor arcs in this example since each side is half of the circle so we have two semi-circles. We have semi-circle BDC on the bottom and semi-circle BAC on the top.

Example 3

Example 3:

A major Arc is an arc that is more than 180°, and a minor arc is less than 180°. When we write major arcs, we need 3 letters to denote the path the arc is going, since it is more than 180°, it could go clockwise or anti-clockwise. When we write minor arcs, we only need two letters to denote the path the arc is going. It will always be the short path for minor arcs.

So our major arc in this example is arc BAC and our minor arc is BC.

Live Worksheet

Teacher - Edpuzzle Link