Can a circle be depicted as a solid or broken line? - Answers

We usually draw circles as solid lines. But a broken line could be used in some cases. In drafting (ex-mechanical drawing), we used broken lines to indicate features of the solid (on the particular projection) that were concealed in the view from that given projection. Let's try an example. Picture a cube about the size of Mr. Rubik's toys/puzzles. And it has a cylinder of material cut from one face down into the cube about half way. (It's a "blind" hole.) The cylinder has a diameter of about half the width of the cube (half the length of one edge). Can you see it? A cube with a "hole" in the center of it that does not extend all the way through but only goes half way. Now hold the cube so you are looking right down into the hole. Can you see it? Now turn the cube so you are looking right at the opposite face of the cube than the one with the hole in it. If you drew this projection of the cube, you'd draw a square, and then a circle in it laid out with a dashed line to denote that it does not appear on this projected surface but is "behind" it. (We probably wouldn't actually this projection, but this is just an example.) In "standard" geometric drawings, we usually use a solid line, But there will be instances of broken lines used to draw circles depending on the application. In art, the sky is the limit. Of course.