In plane geometry, the Conway circle theorem states that when the sides meeting at each vertex of a triangle are extended by the length of the opposite side, the six endpoints of the three resulting line segments lie on a circle whose centre is the incentre of the triangle. The circle on which these six points lie is called the Conway circle of the triangle. [1] [2] [3] The theorem and circle are named after mathematician John Horton Conway.
![segments of equal color are of equal length
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{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\triangle IF_{c}P_{a}&\cong \triangle IF_{c}Q_{b}\cong \triangle IF_{a}P_{b}\\&\cong \triangle IF_{a}Q_{c}\cong \triangle IF_{b}P_{c}\\&\cong \triangle IF_{b}Q_{a}\\\Rightarrow \,|IP_{a}|&=|IQ_{a}|=|IP_{b}|=|IQ_{b}|\\&=|IP_{c}|=|IQ_{c}|\end{aligned}}} Conway circle theorem proof.svg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Conway_circle_theorem_proof.svg/300px-Conway_circle_theorem_proof.svg.png)
Let I be the center of the incircle of triangle ABC, r its radius and Fa, Fb and Fc the three points where the incircle touches the triangle sides a, b and c. Since the (extended) triangle sides are tangents of the incircle it follows that IFa, IFb and IFc are perpendicular to a, b and c. Furthermore the following equalities for line segments hold. |AFc|=|AFb|, |BFc|=|BFa|, |CFa|=|CFb|. With that the six triangles IFcPa, IFcQb, IFaPb, IFaQc, IFbQa and IFbPc all have a side of length |AFc|+|BFc|+|CFa| and a side of length r with a right angle between them. This means that due SAS congruence theorem for triangles all six triangles are congruent, which yields |IPa|=|IQa|=|IPb|=|IQb|=|IPc|=|IQc|. So the six points Pa, Qa, Pb, Qb, Pc and Qc have all the same distance from the triangle incenter I, that is they lie on a common circle with center I.
The radius of the Conway circle is
where and are the inradius and semiperimeter of the triangle. [3]
Conway's circle is a special case of a more general circle for a triangle that can be obtained as follows: Given any △ABC with an arbitrary point P on line AB. Construct BQ = BP, CR = CQ, AS = AR, BT = BS, CU = CT. Then AU = AP, and PQRSTU is cyclic. [4]
If you you place P on the extended triangle side AB such that BP=b and BP being completely outside the triangle then the above constructions yield Conway's circle theorem.
A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is called the radius.
A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called vertices, are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called edges, are one-dimensional line segments. A triangle has three internal angles, each one bounded by a pair of adjacent edges; the sum of angles of a triangle always equals a straight angle. The triangle is a plane figure and its interior is a planar region. Sometimes an arbitrary edge is chosen to be the base, in which case the opposite vertex is called the apex; the shortest segment between base and apex is the height. The area of a triangle equals one-half the product of height and base length.
A right triangle or right-angled triangle, sometimes called an orthogonal triangle or rectangular triangle, is a triangle in which two sides are perpendicular, forming a right angle.
In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if their intersection forms right angles at the point of intersection called a foot. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the perpendicular symbol, ⟂. Perpendicular intersections can happen between two lines, between a line and a plane, and between two planes.
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In geometry, the incircle or inscribed circle of a triangle is the largest circle that can be contained in the triangle; it touches the three sides. The center of the incircle is a triangle center called the triangle's incenter.
In geometry, an equilateral triangle is a triangle in which all three sides have the same length. In the familiar Euclidean geometry, an equilateral triangle is also equiangular; that is, all three internal angles are also congruent to each other and are each 60°. It is also a regular polygon, so it is also referred to as a regular triangle.
In geometry, Heron's formula gives the area of a triangle in terms of the three side lengths Letting be the semiperimeter of the triangle, the area is
In the geometry of triangles, the incircle and nine-point circle of a triangle are internally tangent to each other at the Feuerbach point of the triangle. The Feuerbach point is a triangle center, meaning that its definition does not depend on the placement and scale of the triangle. It is listed as X(11) in Clark Kimberling's Encyclopedia of Triangle Centers, and is named after Karl Wilhelm Feuerbach.
In geometry, the semiperimeter of a polygon is half its perimeter. Although it has such a simple derivation from the perimeter, the semiperimeter appears frequently enough in formulas for triangles and other figures that it is given a separate name. When the semiperimeter occurs as part of a formula, it is typically denoted by the letter s.
In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a triangle is a circle that passes through all three vertices. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter of the triangle, and its radius is called the circumradius. The circumcenter is the point of intersection between the three perpendicular bisectors of the triangle's sides, and is a triangle center.
In Euclidean geometry, a tangential quadrilateral or circumscribed quadrilateral is a convex quadrilateral whose sides all can be tangent to a single circle within the quadrilateral. This circle is called the incircle of the quadrilateral or its inscribed circle, its center is the incenter and its radius is called the inradius. Since these quadrilaterals can be drawn surrounding or circumscribing their incircles, they have also been called circumscribable quadrilaterals, circumscribing quadrilaterals, and circumscriptible quadrilaterals. Tangential quadrilaterals are a special case of tangential polygons.
In geometry, a bicentric polygon is a tangential polygon which is also cyclic — that is, inscribed in an outer circle that passes through each vertex of the polygon. All triangles and all regular polygons are bicentric. On the other hand, a rectangle with unequal sides is not bicentric, because no circle can be tangent to all four sides.
In geometry, the Steiner inellipse, midpoint inellipse, or midpoint ellipse of a triangle is the unique ellipse inscribed in the triangle and tangent to the sides at their midpoints. It is an example of an inellipse. By comparison the inscribed circle and Mandart inellipse of a triangle are other inconics that are tangent to the sides, but not at the midpoints unless the triangle is equilateral. The Steiner inellipse is attributed by Dörrie to Jakob Steiner, and a proof of its uniqueness is given by Dan Kalman.
In geometry, the equal incircles theorem derives from a Japanese Sangaku, and pertains to the following construction: a series of rays are drawn from a given point to a given line such that the inscribed circles of the triangles formed by adjacent rays and the base line are equal. In the illustration the equal blue circles define the spacing between the rays, as described.
In Euclidean geometry, an ex-tangential quadrilateral is a convex quadrilateral where the extensions of all four sides are tangent to a circle outside the quadrilateral. It has also been called an exscriptible quadrilateral. The circle is called its excircle, its radius the exradius and its center the excenter. The excenter lies at the intersection of six angle bisectors. These are the internal angle bisectors at two opposite vertex angles, the external angle bisectors at the other two vertex angles, and the external angle bisectors at the angles formed where the extensions of opposite sides intersect. The ex-tangential quadrilateral is closely related to the tangential quadrilateral.
In Euclidean geometry, a tangential trapezoid, also called a circumscribed trapezoid, is a trapezoid whose four sides are all tangent to a circle within the trapezoid: the incircle or inscribed circle. It is the special case of a tangential quadrilateral in which at least one pair of opposite sides are parallel. As for other trapezoids, the parallel sides are called the bases and the other two sides the legs. The legs can be equal, but they don't have to be.
In Euclidean geometry, a tangential polygon, also known as a circumscribed polygon, is a convex polygon that contains an inscribed circle. This is a circle that is tangent to each of the polygon's sides. The dual polygon of a tangential polygon is a cyclic polygon, which has a circumscribed circle passing through each of its vertices.
In Euclidean geometry, a right kite is a kite that can be inscribed in a circle. That is, it is a kite with a circumcircle. Thus the right kite is a convex quadrilateral and has two opposite right angles. If there are exactly two right angles, each must be between sides of different lengths. All right kites are bicentric quadrilaterals, since all kites have an incircle. One of the diagonals divides the right kite into two right triangles and is also a diameter of the circumcircle.
In plane geometry, a mixtilinear incircle of a triangle is a circle which is tangent to two of its sides and internally tangent to its circumcircle. The mixtilinear incircle of a triangle tangent to the two sides containing vertex is called the -mixtilinear incircle. Every triangle has three unique mixtilinear incircles, one corresponding to each vertex.
