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This year marks my tenth year as a teacher of Maths. During that time, I've built up a bank of teaching resources and ideas which I want to share with others. I'll polish them up a bit before uploading them here. Some can be incorporated into lessons and others act as discussion points.

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The majority of posts are focused around Maths, but there are some which look at pedagogy and CPD which can be used in other subjects/settings. Search for lesson resources using the tags at the side. Pedagogy has it's own section.

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Resources can be used in educational settings, including private tuition.
Showing posts with label Angles in Parallel Lines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Angles in Parallel Lines. Show all posts

Cyclic Quadrilaterals from Isosceles Triangles

As an extension to an earlier post, let's add a condition that the quadrilateral must also be cyclic.

 

Solution 

If the triangles are connected base-to-base, like in Setup 1, the symmetry forces it to be a kite, with \(x+y=90\). A special case is if the other angles are also \(90^{\circ}\) in which case it becomes a square.

If the triangles are set up base-to-leg, like in Setup 2, the apex angle in the left triangle must be \(180-2y\) and because opposite angles in a cyclic quadrilateral sum to \(180\), this means that \(x=2y\). The apex angles in the right triangle is now \(180-4y\).

What quadrilateral could this be?

First off, the apex angle of the left triangle is \(180-2y\) and this is opposite the angle of size \(x\) in the cyclic quadrilateral. They sum to \(180\) so \(180-2y+x=180 \implies x=2y\).

Now, let's use this fact to test types of quadrilateral. It cannot be a square or rectangle as \(x\) cannot be \(90\).

Can it be a kite? If it were, either \(x=180-2y\) and recalling the fact that \(x=2y\), we get \(x=90\) which is not possible. Or, the other two angles are equal giving \(y+(180-2x)=y+x\implies 180=3x \implies x=60\). This makes the triangle on the right an equilateral triangle and \(y=30\). The kite then has angles 120, 90, 60 and 90. This seems feasible.

Can it be a trapezium? Assume it is, then we can use facts about angles in parallel lines. Either \(y=x\), because of alternate angles, but then \(y=x=2y \implies y=0\) which is not possible. Considering a different pair of lines to be parallel, we get a different pair of alternate angles producing the equation \(y=180-2x\) and recalling the earlier finding that \(x=2y\) we get \(y=36\). The trapezium would have angles 108, 108, 72 and 72.

Overall, the quadrilateral can be a square, kite or an isosceles trapezium.

Related Angles





Solutions

1) Two full turns would be 720 degrees. Subtract the co-interior angles to result in 540 degrees.

2) By looking at alternate angles, the middle angle is the size of the outer angles combined.

3) The middle angle can be split into two angles and by looking at alternate angles, they would make two full turns. The three angles therefore add up to 720 degrees.

4) Drawing "south-lines" at each vertex, we would end up with four pairs of co-interior angles. These add up to 720 degrees. Add the two additional 180 degree angles from the outside to get 1080 degrees.

5) \(n\) angles would result in \(n-1\) pairs of co-interior angle pairs. These add up to \(180(n-1)\) and with the two additional 180 degree angles from the outside, they add up to \(180(n+1)\).