Question

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adrianna was given a straight edge and a compass to construct a perpendicular bisector for the line segment ab. what is a possible first step to construct the perpendicular bisector?
a. use the straight edge to draw a line from point c to the center of ab.
b. use the straight edge to draw a line from point c that is perpendicular to ab.
c. use the compass to strike an arc with center point a that is less than half the length of ab.
d. use the compass to strike an arc with center point a that is more than half the length of ab.

Explanation:

To construct a perpendicular bisector of a line - segment AB using a straight - edge and compass, the first step is to set the compass width to more than half the length of AB and strike an arc from point A. This is because when we later strike an arc from point B with the same width, the two arcs will intersect at two points which will help in drawing the perpendicular bisector.

Answer:

D. Use the compass to strike an arc with center point A that is more than half the length of AB.