The wonky trammel of Archimedes

Chris Sangwin
Email: C.J.Sangwin@bham.ac.uk
School of mathematics, University of Birmingham
Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom.

July 25, 2008

This article provides brief notes on an ancient problem: the ellipsograph of Archimedes. It was generalized in the seventeenth century using geometric techniques, and problems of this kind provide very
interesting puzzles in later school or early university problem solving courses, e.g. [3]. These mechanisms are of direct relevance to contemporary mechanical engineers. The mathematical treatment we
provide here, albeit in outline form only, is to alert readers to the power of the polynomial Grobner
Bases techniques for providing explicit solutions to problems which appear intractable. This is a late
twentieth century technique which combines the pure mathematics of rings and groups with the power
of computer algebra.
Imagine a cat sitting in the middle of a straight ladder which stands on horizontal ground while resting
against a vertical wall. If the end of the (thin) ladder GW slides down the wall at W then the (point
sized) cat C0 follows a circular path. It is straightforward to show that if the cat moves to any other
point on the ladder, eg C1 , then it follows an elliptical path. Now imagine the ladder is extended
to pass through either the wall or ground, eg C2 . Should the cat move to the end of the ladder it
would still move in an ellipse, and this configuration gives rise to the well-known ellipsograph (i.e. a
draftsmans tool for drawing an ellipse) referred to as the trammel of Archimedes. See the illustration
below.

C2
W
b

C0
b

C1
G
b

In this article we consider what happens if (i) the wall is not vertical and (ii) the ladder is not straight.
We might consider this to be a wonky trammel. This is also known as the locus problem of Franciscus
van Schooten (16151660), see [4] and also [2, 47], in which a geometric proof is presented. We
1

shall take an algebraic approach to solving this problem and provide an explicit equation relating the
coordinates of the path taken by the cat. Let the point G = (Gx , Gy ) be the end of the ladder on the
ground, so that Gy = 0. Let W = (Wx , Wy ) be the point of contact of the ladder and the wall. Since
the ladder is of fixed length these points remain a constant distance, a say, apart:
(Gx Wx )2 + (Gy Wy )2 = a2 .

(1)

Since the wall is not horizontal, but could be vertical, we assume the gradient equals
kTy Tx = 0.

1
k

for some k.
(2)

To capture the requirement that the ladder is not straight we assume the cat, at point C = (x, y), is
fixed relative to the points G and W . In particular we assume that the distance CG is b and that the
distance CW is c.
(x Gx )2 + (y Gy )2 = b2 ,
(3)
(x Wx )2 + (y Wy )2 = c2 .

(4)

Since (x, y) corresponds to the intersection of two circles there are two possible positions for the cat,
shown as C1 and C2 below.
C1
b

c
C2

b
b

W
a
G
b

O
The task is to solve the system of equations (1)(4). By this we mean to eliminate the variables Gx ,
Gy , Wx and Wy to obtain an explicit formula for the trajectories taken by two cats. Using polynomial
Grobner Bases (see [1]) this is a routine calculation, with the computer algebra system giving the
following formula.

16 a4 k4 + c4 2b2 c2
+ b4 2a2 b2 + a4 k2 + c4 y 4

+32k a2 c2 b2 a2 k2 + b2 c2 + a2 c2 b
4 + 2a2 b2 a4 xy 3

4
2
2
2
2
4
2
2
4
2
4
2
2
4
2
2
4
2
2

+16 c 2b c 2a c + b + 4a b + a k + c 2a c + b 2a b + a x y

2
4
2
2
2
2

+8 a (c b a) (c b + a) (c + b a) (c + b + a) k c c + b a

2
4
4
2
4
2
6
2
4
4
2
6
6
2
2

+ 3a c + 3b c
3a c 2b + 5a b 4a b + a c k y

2
2
2
2
3
+32kb c b a x y
=0

+8k (c b a) (c
b + a) (c + b a) (c + b + a) c2 b2

a2 k2

+ c2 + b2 a2 c4 4b2 c2 2a2 c2 + 3b4 4a2 b2 + a4 xy

4
4

+16b x

2
2
2
2
2
2
2

+8b (c b a) (c b + a) (c + b a) (c + b + a) k c + b a
x




2

2
2
2
2

+ (c b a) (c b + a) (c + b a) (c + b + a) k + c + b a
(5)
2

Notice that this is a polynomial in x and y, with coefficients involving a, b, c and k. It represents an
implicit function for the path of C = (x, y). The structure of this polynomial can more easily be seen
by examining the matrix below in which indicates that the term xn y m exists in (5).
y4

3
y

y2

1 x x2 x3 x4
Furthermore, it is possible to show that if (5) factors over the reals then the factors must be of the form
(A1 x2 + B1 y 2 + E1 xy + F1 )(A2 x2 + B2 y 2 + E2 xy + F2 ).
If an implicit function factors, into say g(x, y)f (x, y) = 0, then the graph of the function is the union
(or superposition) of the graphs of the factors. Since we have one trajectory for C1 and another for
C2 we would expect (5) to factor. Each factor represents the paths of one of the two cats. Hence, the
wonky trammel draws quadratic curves: it is still potentially an ellipsograph.
There are some interesting special cases. The first special case is when a = b + c: geometrically
speaking this is the trammel of Archimedes and here (5) factors to



2
16 b2 x2 + c2 k2 + 2bck2 + b2 k2 + c2 y 2 2b (c + b) kxy b2 c2 .
The second special case occurs when the wall is vertical (k = 0) and the triangle W CG is a right
angle triangle with right angle at C, a critria captured by a2 = b2 + c2 . In this case (5) factors to
16(bx cy)2 (bx + cy)2
giving two straight lines. This special case is a straightforward exercise in geometry.
Let us assume that the cat is on the normal to the ladder through the midpoint of GW . This is
equivalent to taking an isosceles triangle GCW by assuming c = b. We also choose the base a = 2
somewhat arbitrarily to fix the scale. We shall configure the trammel so that the angle between the
wall and ground equals that of the angle of the triangle at C. This is achieved by taking k in (2) as


b2 2 b2 1
k=
.
(6)
2 b2 2
Substituting these values into (5) and factoring gives

p




16b2 4b4 11b2 + 8 y 2 32b2 b2 1 3b2 4 xy

2
p





2  
+16b4 b2 1 x2 64b2 b2 1 b2 2
y + b2 1x .

Here the repeated linear factor tells us that one point traces out the straight line y = b2 1x.
Geometrically this straight line is one of the angle bisectors of the wall and ground.
To search for other straight line solutions to (5) we consider solutions of the form
(Ax2 + By 2 + Exy + F )(y + M x)2 .
3

Expanding this and equating coefficients with (5) we obtain a new system of equations. Applying
Grobner Bases techniques to solve this system we find that
b2 = M 2 + 1.
Only even powers of b occur in (5) so without loss of generality we may ignore the negative root.
Substituting this value for b allows us to further solve for k as
k=

M2 1
.
2M

With these values (5) factors to

16 M 2 + 1

(xM + y)2
4
M








y 2 4M 4 + 3M 2 1 + 2xyM 3M 2 1 x2 M 2 M 2 + 1 + 4 (M 1)2 M 2 (M + 1)2

(7)

Hence, for every straight line y = M x there exists a trammel which will draw it.
A further specialization of this case occurs with values of M for which one cat traces a straight line
and the other traces out a circle. To find this we equate coefficients of x2 and y 2 in (7). This gives
M = 13 or M = 1.

In the case M = 1 we have b = 2, k = 0 and (7) reduces to 64(y x)2 (y + x)2 , which is not the
combination of a straight line and a circle. Instead this is two straight lines. These values of b and
k represent geometrically a right-angled isosceles triangle with right-angle at C. This is more easily
illustrated by placing a square with two opposite corners on the axes.
In this case M =

1 ,
3

(7) gives
2


256 
3y + x
3y 2 + 3x2 4 .
27

To interpret this we notice that b = 23 and k = 13 . Geometrically this value of b is the position of
the centre of mass of an equilateral triangle with base the line GW . The value of k corresponds to a
wall at an angle of 60o to the horizontal. According to our earlier analysis one vertex of the equilateral
triangle will also move in a straight line. This case is illustrated in Figure 1. In this Figure the points
C1 and C2 correspond to values when a = b = c = 2. The points P1 and P2 are those with a = 2 and
b = c = 23 . The loci of these points are dashed or dotted lines.
It is curious that the wonky trammel of Archimedes can be used as a traditional compass, as a straight
edge (to draw a straight line) and as an ellipsograph to trace ellipses. Notice that we not only solve
the system explicitly, but we also reverse engineer the problem and find configurations which provide
a particular solution. This is of direct practical use. An unresolved question in didactic engineering is how high school and university curricula should be modified to accommodate these powerful
mathematical methods?
Acknowledgements: Thanks are due to Phil Todd for pointing out [2] and to Benedict Heal for his
kind and helpful suggestions.

W
b

C2

P2
b

O
b

P1
b

C1

Figure 1: An equilateral triangle on a trammel at 60o .

References
[1] W. W. Adams and P. Loustaunau. An Introduction to Grobner Bases, volume 3 of Graduate
Studies in Mathematics. American Mathematical Society, 1994.
[2] H. Dorrie. 100 Great Problems of Elementary Mathematics: their history and solution. Dover,
1965.
[3] Jan van Maanen. Seventeenth century instruments for drawing conic sections. The Mathematical
Gazette, 76(476):222230, July 1992.
[4] Franciscus van Schooten. De organica conicarum sectionum in plano descriptione. Lugd. Batavor.: Ex Officina Elzeviriorum, 1646.