Creating Bi-Tangent Lines

You can create a bi-tangent line by creating two tangents (on two different elements). You can use Bi-Tangent Line command to create the bi-tangent lines.

Before you begin:

To perform this task, create two Creating Circles.

Related Topics
Creating Lines
Creating Infinite Lines
Creating Bisecting Lines
Creating Lines Normal to a Curve

  1. Click Bi-Tangent Line in the Profile toolbar (Line sub-toolbar).

    Warning: Ensure that your sketch is consistent before creating bi-tangent lines (you can use Sketch Analysis for this). Otherwise, the system will not compute the tangencies properly.

  2. Click a first element (first tangent). For example, click a circle.



  3. Click a second element (second tangent). For example, click another circle.

    The bi-tangent line appears between both selected elements.

    The corresponding constraints are created provided you activated Geometrical Constraints . Tangents are created as close as possible to where you clicked on the circle.



  4. At this step, create a Creating Points. At any time, you can select a point type element. The line goes through this point and a coincidence constraint is created on this point.