# Semicircle

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In mathematics (and more specifically geometry), a semicircle is a one-dimensional locus of points that forms half of a circle. The full arc of a semicircle always measures 180° (equivalently, π radians, or a half-turn). It has only one line of symmetry (reflection symmetry). In non-technical usage, the term "semicircle" is sometimes used to refer to a half-disk, which is a two-dimensional geometric shape that also includes the diameter segment from one end of the arc to the other as well as all the interior points.

## Contents

By Thales' theorem, any triangle inscribed in a semicircle with a vertex at each of the endpoints of the semicircle and the third vertex elsewhere on the semicircle is a right triangle, with right angle at the third vertex.

All lines intersecting the semicircle perpendicularly are concurrent at the center of the circle containing the given semicircle.

## Uses

A semicircle can be used to construct the arithmetic and geometric means of two lengths using straight-edge and compass. For a semicircle with a diameter of a + b, the length of its radius is the arithmetic mean of a and b (since the radius is half of the diameter).

The geometric mean can be found by dividing the diameter into two segments of lengths a and b, and then connecting their common endpoint to the semicircle with a segment perpendicular to the diameter. The length of the resulting segment is the geometric mean. This can be proven by applying the Pythagorean theorem to three similar right triangles, each having as vertices the point where the perpendicular touches the semicircle and two of the three endpoints of the segments of lengths a and b. [1]

The construction of the geometric mean can be used to transform any rectangle into a square of the same area, a problem called the quadrature of a rectangle. The side length of the square is the geometric mean of the side lengths of the rectangle. More generally it is used as a lemma in a general method for transforming any polygonal shape into a similar copy of itself with the area of any other given polygonal shape. [2]

## Equation

The equation of a semicircle with midpoint ${\displaystyle (x_{0},y_{0})}$ on the diameter between its endpoints and which is entirely concave from below is

${\displaystyle y=y_{0}+{\sqrt {r^{2}-(x-x_{0})^{2}}}.}$

If it is entirely concave from above, the equation is

${\displaystyle y=y_{0}-{\sqrt {r^{2}-(x-x_{0})^{2}}}.}$

## Arbelos

An arbelos is a region in the plane bounded by three semicircles connected at the corners, all on the same side of a straight line (the baseline) that contains their diameters.

## Related Research Articles

A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are a given distance from a given point, the centre; equivalently it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is constant. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is called the radius. This article is about circles in Euclidean geometry, and, in particular, the Euclidean plane, except where otherwise noted.

In mathematics, the geometric mean is a mean or average, which indicates the central tendency or typical value of a set of numbers by using the product of their values. The geometric mean is defined as the nth root of the product of n numbers, i.e., for a set of numbers x1, x2, ..., xn, the geometric mean is defined as

In mathematics, a parabola is a plane curve which is mirror-symmetrical and is approximately U-shaped. It fits several other superficially different mathematical descriptions, which can all be proved to define exactly the same curves.

A perimeter is a path that encompasses/surrounds a two-dimensional shape. The term may be used either for the path, or its length—in one dimension. It can be thought of as the length of the outline of a shape. The perimeter of a circle or ellipse is called its circumference.

In Euclidean plane geometry, a quadrilateral is a polygon with four edges (sides) and four vertices (corners). Other names for quadrilateral include quadrangle, tetragon, and 4-gon. A quadrilateral with vertices , , and is sometimes denoted as .

A right triangle or right-angled triangle is a triangle in which one angle is a right angle. The relation between the sides and angles of a right triangle is the basis for trigonometry.

In elementary geometry, the property of being perpendicular (perpendicularity) is the relationship between two lines which meet at a right angle. The property extends to other related geometric objects.

In geometry, bisection is the division of something into two equal or congruent parts, usually by a line, which is then called a bisector. The most often considered types of bisectors are the segment bisector and the angle bisector.

In plane Euclidean geometry, a rhombus is a quadrilateral whose four sides all have the same length. Another name is equilateral quadrilateral, since equilateral means that all of its sides are equal in length. The rhombus is often called a diamond, after the diamonds suit in playing cards which resembles the projection of an octahedral diamond, or a lozenge, though the former sometimes refers specifically to a rhombus with a 60° angle, and the latter sometimes refers specifically to a rhombus with a 45° angle.

In mathematics and physics, the centroid or geometric center of a plane figure is the arithmetic mean position of all the points in the figure. Informally, it is the point at which a cutout of the shape could be perfectly balanced on the tip of a pin.

In geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles. It can also be defined as a rectangle in which two adjacent sides have equal length. A square with vertices ABCD would be denoted ABCD.

In geometry, an arbelos is a plane region bounded by three semicircles with three apexes such that each corner of each semicircle is shared with one of the others (connected), all on the same side of a straight line that contains their diameters.

In hyperbolic geometry, the angle of parallelism , is the angle at the non-right angle vertex of a right hyperbolic triangle having two asymptotic parallel sides. The angle depends on the segment length a between the right angle and the vertex of the angle of parallelism.

In hyperbolic geometry, two lines may intersect, be ultraparallel, or be limiting parallel.

In geometry, the area enclosed by a circle of radius r is πr2. Here the Greek letter π represents the constant ratio of the circumference of any circle to its diameter, approximately equal to 3.14159.

A special right triangle is a right triangle with some regular feature that makes calculations on the triangle easier, or for which simple formulas exist. For example, a right triangle may have angles that form simple relationships, such as 45°–45°–90°. This is called an "angle-based" right triangle. A "side-based" right triangle is one in which the lengths of the sides form ratios of whole numbers, such as 3 : 4 : 5, or of other special numbers such as the golden ratio. Knowing the relationships of the angles or ratios of sides of these special right triangles allows one to quickly calculate various lengths in geometric problems without resorting to more advanced methods.

A Kepler triangle is a right triangle with edge lengths in a geometric progression. The ratio of the progression is φ, where φ is the golden ratio, and can be written: , or approximately 1 : 1.272 : 1.618. The squares of the edges of this triangle are also in geometric progression according to the golden ratio itself.

In geometry, a pentagon is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°.

In geometry, a line segment is a part of a line that is bounded by two distinct end points, and contains every point on the line between its endpoints. A closed line segment includes both endpoints, while an open line segment excludes both endpoints; a half-open line segment includes exactly one of the endpoints. In geometry, a line segment is often denoted using a line above the symbols for the two endpoints.

The right triangle altitude theorem or geometric mean theorem is a result in elementary geometry that describes a relation between the lengths of the altitude on the hypotenuse in a right triangle and the two line segments it creates on the hypotenuse. It states that the geometric mean of the two segments equals the altitude.