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Why are these two centered at a different position? Shouldn't these be both centered at the same (0, 0)?

\documentclass[tikz, border=1cm]{standalone}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[thick]
\draw[red] (0, 0) arc[start angle=0, end angle=360, radius=2];
\draw[blue] (0,0) circle[radius=2];
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

enter image description here

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    An arc is a path that starts at your current position, so that you can draw circular connections (without having to calculate the centre point yourself), so arc is just a differently shaped -- if you want. A circle is a full circle at the current spot. They serve different needs, so they differ. – Skillmon Mar 05 '23 at 21:34
  • For instance, use \draw (0,0) -- ++(1,0) arc[start angle=-90, end angle=0, radius=2] -- ++(0,1); – Skillmon Mar 05 '23 at 21:37
  • "Why" you ask ... Well, because it has been defined this way. I think it makes a lot of sense to let an arc start at the current position of the path, but of course, one could suggest that the coordinate over which the circle is constructed should be at another position, for example at the rightmost point of this circle. However, circles are traditionally defined by their center (and their radius), not only in PGF/TikZ. – Jasper Habicht Mar 05 '23 at 22:48
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0 Answers0