# Draw arc from end of one arc with different center

I need to draw an arc from A to dashed vertical line taking C2 as center. First arc center is C1.

\documentclass[10pt,a4paper]{scrbook}
\usepackage{tikz}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\node at (0:0){C1};
\node at (90:1){C2};

\draw[dashed] (0:0) -- (90:6);

\draw (90:2) arc (100:-130:2)node{A};

\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}


I might got it wrong but I interpreted the question as a continous path so here it is; (you can separate them anyway)

We can use the let syntax, that allows you to save a node coordinate into a macro \p<number> and then access its components using \x<number> and \y<number>. This requires the calc library to be loaded.

\documentclass[10pt,a4paper]{scrbook}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{calc}
\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\node at (0:0){C1};
\node (C2) at (90:1){C2};

\draw[dashed] (0:0) -- (90:6);

\draw (90:2) arc (90:-130:2)node(A){A} let \p1=($(A)-(C2)$),
\n1={veclen(\x1,\y1)},
\n2={atan2(\y1,\x1)}
in arc (\n2:-270:\n1);

\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}


• Change 100 into 90 (First arc center is C1) then use \atan2(\y1,\x1) to get the correct picture (with PGF/TikZ 3.0). – Paul Gaborit May 5 '14 at 14:40
• Last suggestion: you may use -270 instead of 90 in last arc (question is not very clear...). – Paul Gaborit May 5 '14 at 14:42
• @PaulGaborit You are right it was both wrong and less beautiful. – percusse May 5 '14 at 22:09

You can use a scope with a shift of y=1cm:

\documentclass[10pt,a4paper]{scrbook}
\usepackage{tikz}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\node at (0:0){C1};
\node at (90:1)(c2){C2};

\draw[dashed] (0:0) -- (90:6);

\begin{scope}[yshift=1cm]
\draw[ultra thick] (90:2cm) arc (90:-130:2cm)node{A};
\end{scope}
%\draw[red] (c2.center) circle (2cm);    %% Uncomment to check the center

\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}


Not sure if this is the right answer.

I never seen the Tikz coordinate is defined as (0:0), so I couldn't imagine what exactly its mean.

However, I draw a circle to get the right radius and as a prototype. Then I draw the arc from the end of the previous one (blue) and its inverse (red).

\documentclass[10pt,a4paper,twocolumn]{scrbook}
\usepackage{tikz}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\node at (0:0){C1};
\node at (90:1){C2};

\draw[dashed] (0:0) -- (90:6);

\draw (90:2) arc (100:-130:2)node{A};

\end{tikzpicture}

% %
%   Draw circle to make sure we have the right radius
%
\vfil
\begin{tikzpicture}
\node at (0:0){C1};
\node(C2) at (90:1){C2};

\draw[dashed] (0:0) -- (90:6);

\draw (90:2) arc (100:-130:2)node(A){A};

\draw[red] (C2) circle(2.7);

\end{tikzpicture}

% %
%   Draw arc from the end of the previous arc
%

\vfil
\begin{tikzpicture}
\node at (0:0){C1};
\node(C2) at (90:1){C2};

\draw[dashed] (0:0) -- (90:6);

\draw (90:2) arc (100:-130:2)node(A){A};

\draw[blue] (A) arc (250:90:2.68);

\end{tikzpicture}

% %
%   Draw inverse of the new arc
%

\vfil
\begin{tikzpicture}
\node at (0:0){C1};
\node(C2) at (90:1){C2};

\draw[dashed] (0:0) -- (90:6);

\draw (90:2) arc (100:-130:2)node(A){A};

\draw[blue] (A) arc (250:90:2.68);

\draw[red] (A) arc (-110:90:2.68);

\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}


• It's the polar syntax (angle:length). In fact anything with zero length would give the same point. – percusse May 5 '14 at 14:03
• It is a good idea to draw a circle to find the radius...and then to use it to draw an arc. – sandu May 6 '14 at 3:51