Equilateral and Equiangular Polygons

A polygon is a 2 dimensional geometric figure bound with straight sides. A polygon is called Equilateral if all of its sides are congruent. Common examples of equilateral polygons are a rhombus and regular polygons such as equilateral triangles and squares.  Now, a polygon is equiangular if all of its internal angles are congruent.  Some important facts to consider The only equiangular triangle is the equilateral triangle If P is an equilateral polygon that has more than three sides, it does not have to be equiangular. A rhombus with no right angle is an example of an equilateral but non-equiangular polygon.  Rectangles, including squares, are the only equiangular quadrilaterals Equiangular polygon theorem. Each angle of an equiangular n-gon is  $$\Bigg(\frac{n-2}{n}\Bigg)180^{\circ} = 180^{\circ} -   \frac{360^{\circ}}{n} $$ Viviani's theorem   Vincenzo Viviani (1622 – 1703) was a famous Italian mathematician. With his exceptional intelligence in math...
Post a Comment

Circle Theorems

Now that you know the fundamentals of circles, let's take a look at some important circle theorems. 
  • Inscribed angle is half the measure of the intercepted arc. An inscribed angle is the angle formed in the interior of a circle when two secant lines intersect on the circle. 

  • The above theorem leads to an important result that comes handy in solving many geometry problems. The angle at the circumference subtended by a diameter is a right angle.  Simply put, the angle in a semicircle is a right angle. 

 

  • All inscribed angles that intercept the same arc have the same measure. 


  • The angle at the center is twice the angle at the circumference subtended by the same arc.


  • The measure of the angle formed by the intersection of two chords is equal to the average of it's two corresponding arcs. Simply put, m$\angle \alpha = \frac{\overset{\LARGE{\frown}}{NP} + \overset{\LARGE{\frown}}{QO}}{2}$


  • Similar to the previous theorem, the angle formed outside of a circle by two intersecting secants is equal to half the difference in the measure of the 2 intercepted arcs. m$\angle \alpha = \frac{\overset{\LARGE{\frown}}{BD} - \overset{\LARGE{\frown}}{AC}}{2}$

  • A segment from the center that bisects any chord is also perpendicular to it, and the converse that if the segment from the center of a circle is perpendicular to any chord, then it must bisect it is also true. This also gives us the two small triangles being congruent, and we will talk more about congruency in a later post. 


  • The sum of either pairs of opposite angles of a cyclic quadrilateral is $180^{\circ}$. The converse is also true. If the sum of the opposite angles of a quadrilateral is $180^{\circ}$, then it is a cyclic quadrilateral. 

  • In a cyclic quad, the exterior angle is equal to the opposite interior angle. 

  • There is an important concept, Power of a Point, that defines the relationships between the lengths of line segments that form when two lines intersect both each other and a circle. There are 3 main scenarios listed below where you can apply Power of a Point. 

  • Two tangents drawn from a point to a circle have equal length. 


  • The angle between a chord and a tangent through one of the endpoints of the chord is equal to the angle in the alternate segment. This is commonly known as the Alternate Segment Theorem.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Equilateral and Equiangular Polygons

A polygon is a 2 dimensional geometric figure bound with straight sides. A polygon is called Equilateral if all of its sides are congruent. Common examples of equilateral polygons are a rhombus and regular polygons such as equilateral triangles and squares.  Now, a polygon is equiangular if all of its internal angles are congruent.  Some important facts to consider The only equiangular triangle is the equilateral triangle If P is an equilateral polygon that has more than three sides, it does not have to be equiangular. A rhombus with no right angle is an example of an equilateral but non-equiangular polygon.  Rectangles, including squares, are the only equiangular quadrilaterals Equiangular polygon theorem. Each angle of an equiangular n-gon is  $$\Bigg(\frac{n-2}{n}\Bigg)180^{\circ} = 180^{\circ} -   \frac{360^{\circ}}{n} $$ Viviani's theorem   Vincenzo Viviani (1622 – 1703) was a famous Italian mathematician. With his exceptional intelligence in math...
Read more

Irrational Numbers

A number which cannot be written in the form $ \cfrac {p}{q}$  where $p$ and $q$ are integers and $ q $  $ \neq 0$. Example: $ \sqrt {2}$, $ \sqrt {3}$, $ \sqrt {6}$, $ \sqrt {7}$, $ \sqrt {8}$, $ \sqrt {10}$ Theorem: If $p$ divides $x^3$, then $p$ divides $x$, where $x$ is a positive integer and $p$ is a prime number.  Proof :  Let $x = p_{1} p_{2}...p_{n}$ where $p_{1}, p_{2}, p_{3}.....p_{n}$  are primes, not necessarily distinct.  $ \rightarrow x^3 = p_{1}^3 p_{2}^3.....p_{n}^3$ Given that $p$ divides $x^3$ By fundamental theorem, $p$ is one of the primes of $x^3$.  By the uniqueness of fundamental theorem, the distinct primes of $x^3$ are same as the distinct primes of $x$.  $ \rightarrow p$ divides $x$ Similarly if $p$ divides $x^2$, then $p$ divides $x$, where $p$ is a prime number and $x$ is a positive integer. Example: Prove that  $ \sqrt {2}$ is irrational.  Solution : Let us assume that  $ \sqrt ...
Read more

Incenter/Excenter Lemma

Image
Given $\triangle ABC$ with incenter $I$, extend $AI$ to meet the circumcircle of $\triangle ABC$ at $L$. Then, reflect $I$ over $L$, and name this point $I_a$. Then:  $(i)$ $BICI_a$ is a cyclic quadrilateral with point $L$ as the center of the circumscribed circle.  $(ii)$ $BI_a$ and $CI_a$ bisect the exterior angles of $\angle B$ and $\angle C$,  respectively.  Proof $(i)$ Notice that the the question is equivalent to proving the distance from $L$ to points $B, I, C, I_a$ are equal. In other words, we need to show that  $$LB = LI = LC = LI_a$$ Firstly, it is obvious that $LI = LI_a$ because by definition, $I_a$ is the reflection of $I$ over $L$, and reflections preserve the length of the segment.  Now, we are left with proving that $LB=LI$, because similar calculations will provide $LI=LC$.  We see that most of our given information involves angles, so we focus on proving $\angle LBI = \angle LIB$. Firstly,  $$\angle LBC = \angl...
Read more