line tangent to a curve

[Brandon Newsom]

If you have a circle and then draw an arbitrary line off to the side
somewhere....is there a way to move the line so that it touches the circle
only at the point of tangency?? The "tangent" osnap command doesn't seem to
do the trick.

[R.K. McSwain]

"Brandon Newsom" <bnewsom7979@hotmail.com> wrote...

If you have a circle and then draw an arbitrary line off to the side
somewhere....is there a way to move the line so that it touches the circle
only at the point of tangency?? The "tangent" osnap command doesn't seem to
do the trick.

Unless I misunderstand...

Draw a ray from the center of the circle perpendicular to the line.
Move the line _from_ the point where the ray meets the line _to_ the point where the ray crosses the circle.

(I used ray instead of line so as not to confuse the two lines)

[Mike]

I'm not sure if there is an easier way, but you could draw a line from the
center of the curve or circle perpendicular to your line. Where that line
intersects the curve is the tangent point. Move your original line to the
intersection point and you should be all set.