No, This is not a Circle

04/27/2017

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by   Zoltán Kovács, et al.

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A popular curve shown in introductory maths textbooks, seems like a circle. But it is actually a different curve. This paper discusses some elementary approaches to identify the geometric object, including novel technological means by using GeoGebra. We demonstrate two ways to refute the false impression, two suggestions to find a correct conjecture, and four ways to confirm the result by proving it rigorously. All of the discussed approaches can be introduced in classrooms at various levels from middle school to high school.