POW 6: The Po Po station

Evan R.

The Po Po is looking to put in a new station that is accessible to two highways that intersect each
other. The goal that we have is to state where the best place is for the station to be built.

Process
Describe process in geometric terms without talking about petrol stations or highways.
The way I solved was to look at scenarios of how the two lines or roads intersect, from this I came
up with a solution.

I first realized that the best place for the point or station would have to be the same distance from
the lines this would mean that it would be in between the vertex of the lines. If we were to draw a
line for where the point could be placed on I found that the line would have to have the same angle
on each side of the line. So I thought I wonder if there is a term for something like this and with a
subtle hint from Hannah about bisectors, I look for an angle bisector. I came across a video that
explained how to find the bisector without having the angel specified.

Solution

The way to find the angle bisector without given angles, and without a
protractor, is to use a compass. Start by drawing an arc, it can be any
distance from the vertex, the arc has to touch each of the lines.(in red)
For our purposes we want to choose the smallest angle that our lines
make.

Our next step is to take the compass and for ease living it at the same
setting or angle and put the point on one of the new vertex and draw
another arc. Do this same thing for the other vertex so you have an
intersection with those two arcs. Then draw a line with a straight
edge from the original vertex to the last vertex created by the two
independent arcs. This leaves you with two angles that are identical to each other with a line
representing the angle bisector.

The line made for the angle bisector is where the station could be placed along. To me you would
want it as close to the original vertex as much as possible but this gives all the possibilities.

Over all the problem was good, it built off of work we had learding only with a spin to what the
product was. I enjoyed working on this and it provide information that lead us to a new result.

For myself I am happy with how I went about the problem I let me figure some of the problem out
and loud me to research the possible solution. I liked the tie back to our class work because it
helped me think of what we might be looking for and how we can that knowledge to solving the
problem.