I’ve got to make some diagrams of the geometry of a situation to explain myself, and I’d like to find some good, free software that can do this (preferably on Windows). By geometry diagrams, I mean with lines, arcs, angles labeled, arrows giving the names and lengths of various radii and segments, etc.
I’ve found some programs to do almost this, but none that can do everything I’ve listed there, or that can do any better than pixelly bitmaps as an output.
It does everythig you have asked and more.
Good for graphing functions
handles polynomial relations up to order two – ie conics
differentiates algebraically
draws tangents and normals to any constructable curve
does all standard compass/straight edge constructions
handles angles, line segments and vectors of a given size
possible to trace points and lines to construct envelopes
able to plot a locus
I have used it to produce tesselations, construct limacons, lemniscates, cardioids, nephrites and cycloids from elementary definitions
I have used it to demonstrate angle relationships in deductive geometry
excellent for periodic functions and transformation of functions.
I have used it for producing random right angled triangles for trigonometry practice
And I have only used about half of its features.
Free and straightforward to use – It was painless and quick to learn.