Graphics, Figures & Tables ⇒ Regular Pentagon with labeled Vertices

[Richard_B]

I am trying to get a regular pentagon with vertices labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. I was able to get a square with labeled vertices. The code is shown below. The pentagon seems more difficult. I am just learning the LaTeX picture environment, so I'd like to use that, if possible. But if it's easier using pstricks (which I know very little of, other than the name), that would be fine too.

Thank you.

Code: Select all

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
% a square with labeled vertices
\setlength{\unitlength}{3cm}
\begin{picture}(2,2)
\linethickness{0.3mm}
\put(0,0){\line(1,0){1}}
\put(0,0){\circle*{.05}}
\put(1,0){\circle*{.05}}
\put(1,1){\circle*{.05}}
\put(0,1){\circle*{.05}}
\put(0,0){\line(0,1){1}}
\put(1,0){\line(0,1){1}}
\put(0,1){\line(1,0){1}}
\put(-0.1,1.05){$1$}
\put(1,1.05){$2$}
\put(1.05,-0.05){$3$}
\put(-0.13,-0.05){$4$}
\end{picture}
\end{document}

[Stefan Kottwitz]

Hi Richard,

I would use tikZ. It provides a rich syntax and has great capabilities. A quick example for your pentagon:

Code: Select all

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
  \newdimen\R
  \R=0.8cm
  \draw (0:\R)
     \foreach \x in {72,144,...,360} {  -- (\x:\R) }
              -- cycle (360:\R) node[right] {5}
              -- cycle (288:\R) node[below right] {4}
              -- cycle (216:\R) node[below left] {3}
              -- cycle (144:\R) node[above left] {2}
              -- cycle  (72:\R) node[above right] {1};
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

\foreach \x in {72,144,...,360} { -- (\x:\R) } is for the pentagon, the rest for the labels. It's derived from the hexagon for memorizing trigonometric identities by Josef Nilsen. You can find this and more Examples in the TikZ example gallery.

Stefan

[jake]

Yup, I would also go with TikZ. You'll probably be happier learning TikZ than the picture environment syntax, as it's a lot more powerful.

Stefan's example can even be simplified a bit:

Code: Select all

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\newdimen\R
\R=0.8cm

\draw (0:\R)
\foreach [count=\n] \x in {72,144,...,360} {
	-- (\x:\R) node [anchor=180+\x] {\n}
};
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

[Richard_B]

Fantastic! This tikZ stuff looks really great. I plan to go learn more about it now.

Thanks again!
-RB