Question

james is constructing a tangent to point a outside the circle. he uses a straightedge to draw a line connecting points o and a. what is the next step in james construction? select the correct answer. set the compass width slightly greater than the length of the radius and draw arcs at the two places where the compass intersects the circle. use a compass to construct a perpendicular line for segment oa where oa intersects the circle. use a compass to construct the perpendicular bisector for segment oa. from point a, use a straightedge to draw two lines that intersect the circle exactly once.

Explanation:

To construct a tangent from an external point \(A\) to a circle with center \(O\), the first step is to draw the line segment \(OA\). The next step is to construct the perpendicular bisector of segment \(OA\). The mid - point of \(OA\) will be the center of a new circle that will intersect the original circle at the points of tangency.

Answer:

Use a compass to construct the perpendicular bisector for segment OA.