Tangential trapezoid

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A tangential trapezoid. Tangential trapezoid.svg
A tangential trapezoid.

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 (see isosceles tangential trapezoid below), but they don't have to be.

Contents

Special cases

Examples of tangential trapezoids are rhombi and squares.

Rombus incircle 01.svg
Square incircle excircle 01.png

Characterization

If the incircle is tangent to the sides AB and CD at W and Y respectively, then a tangential quadrilateral ABCD is also a trapezoid with parallel sides AB and CD if and only if [1] :Thm. 2

and AD and BC are the parallel sides of a trapezoid if and only if

Area

The formula for the area of a trapezoid can be simplified using Pitot's theorem to get a formula for the area of a tangential trapezoid. If the bases have lengths a, b, and any one of the other two sides has length c, then the area K is given by the formula [2] (This formula can be used only in cases where the bases are parallel.)

The area can be expressed in terms of the tangent lengths e, f, g, h as [3] :p.129

Inradius

Using the same notations as for the area, the radius in the incircle is [2]

The diameter of the incircle is equal to the height of the tangential trapezoid.

The inradius can also be expressed in terms of the tangent lengths as [3] :p.129

Moreover, if the tangent lengths e, f, g, h emanate respectively from vertices A, B, C, D and AB is parallel to DC, then [1]

Properties of the incenter

If the incircle is tangent to the bases at P, Q, then P, I, Q are collinear, where I is the incenter. [4]

The angles AID and BIC in a tangential trapezoid ABCD, with bases AB and DC, are right angles. [4]

The incenter lies on the median (also called the midsegment; that is, the segment connecting the midpoints of the legs). [4]


Other properties

The median (midsegment) of a tangential trapezoid equals one fourth of the perimeter of the trapezoid. It also equals half the sum of the bases, as in all trapezoids.

If two circles are drawn, each with a diameter coinciding with the legs of a tangential trapezoid, then these two circles are tangent to each other. [5]

Right tangential trapezoid

A right tangential trapezoid. Right tangential trapezoid 001.svg
A right tangential trapezoid.

A right tangential trapezoid is a tangential trapezoid where two adjacent angles are right angles. If the bases have lengths a, b, then the inradius is [6]

Thus the diameter of the incircle is the harmonic mean of the bases.

The right tangential trapezoid has the area [6]

and its perimeter P is [6]

Isosceles tangential trapezoid

Every isosceles tangential trapezoid is bicentric. Bicentric isosceles trapezoid 001.svg
Every isosceles tangential trapezoid is bicentric.

An isosceles tangential trapezoid is a tangential trapezoid where the legs are equal. Since an isosceles trapezoid is cyclic, an isosceles tangential trapezoid is a bicentric quadrilateral. That is, it has both an incircle and a circumcircle.

If the bases are a, b, then the inradius is given by [7]

To derive this formula was a simple Sangaku problem from Japan. From Pitot's theorem it follows that the lengths of the legs are half the sum of the bases. Since the diameter of the incircle is the square root of the product of the bases, an isosceles tangential trapezoid gives a nice geometric interpretation of the arithmetic mean and geometric mean of the bases as the length of a leg and the diameter of the incircle respectively.

The area K of an isosceles tangential trapezoid with bases a, b is given by [8]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triangle</span> Shape with three sides

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Right triangle</span> Triangle containing a 90-degree angle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perpendicular</span> Relationship between two lines that meet at a right angle (90 degrees)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Incircle and excircles</span> Circles tangent to all three sides of a triangle

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhombus</span> Quadrilateral with sides of equal length

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyclic quadrilateral</span> Quadrilateral whose vertices can all fall on a single circle

In Euclidean geometry, a cyclic quadrilateral or inscribed quadrilateral is a quadrilateral whose vertices all lie on a single circle. This circle is called the circumcircle or circumscribed circle, and the vertices are said to be concyclic. The center of the circle and its radius are called the circumcenter and the circumradius respectively. Other names for these quadrilaterals are concyclic quadrilateral and chordal quadrilateral, the latter since the sides of the quadrilateral are chords of the circumcircle. Usually the quadrilateral is assumed to be convex, but there are also crossed cyclic quadrilaterals. The formulas and properties given below are valid in the convex case.

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In geometry, a trapezoid in North American English, or trapezium in British English, is a quadrilateral that has one pair of parallel sides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Incenter</span> Center of the inscribed circle of a triangle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isosceles trapezoid</span> Trapezoid symmetrical about an axis

In Euclidean geometry, an isosceles trapezoid is a convex quadrilateral with a line of symmetry bisecting one pair of opposite sides. It is a special case of a trapezoid. Alternatively, it can be defined as a trapezoid in which both legs and both base angles are of equal measure, or as a trapezoid whose diagonals have equal length. Note that a non-rectangular parallelogram is not an isosceles trapezoid because of the second condition, or because it has no line of symmetry. In any isosceles trapezoid, two opposite sides are parallel, and the two other sides are of equal length, and the diagonals have equal length. The base angles of an isosceles trapezoid are equal in measure.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tangential quadrilateral</span> Polygon whose four sides all touch a circle

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicentric quadrilateral</span> Convex, 4-sided shape with an incircle and a circumcircle

In Euclidean geometry, a bicentric quadrilateral is a convex quadrilateral that has both an incircle and a circumcircle. The radii and centers of these circles are called inradius and circumradius, and incenter and circumcenter respectively. From the definition it follows that bicentric quadrilaterals have all the properties of both tangential quadrilaterals and cyclic quadrilaterals. Other names for these quadrilaterals are chord-tangent quadrilateral and inscribed and circumscribed quadrilateral. It has also rarely been called a double circle quadrilateral and double scribed quadrilateral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ex-tangential quadrilateral</span> Convex 4-sided polygon whose sidelines are all tangent to an outside circle

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Right kite</span> Symmetrical quadrilateral

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mixtilinear incircles of a triangle</span> Circle tangent to two sides of a triangle and its 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.

References

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