Intersecting chords theorem

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{\displaystyle |AS|\cdot |SC|=|BS|\cdot |SD|} Chord theorem.svg
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{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}&|AS|\cdot |SC|=|BS|\cdot |SD|\\={}&(r+d)\cdot (r-d)=r^{2}-d^{2}\end{aligned}}} Chord theorem power.svg
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{\displaystyle \triangle ASD\sim \triangle BSC} Chord theorem proof.svg

In Euclidean geometry, the intersecting chords theorem, or just the chord theorem, is a statement that describes a relation of the four line segments created by two intersecting chords within a circle. It states that the products of the lengths of the line segments on each chord are equal. It is Proposition 35 of Book 3 of Euclid's Elements.

More precisely, for two chords AC and BD intersecting in a point S the following equation holds:

The converse is true as well. That is: If for two line segments AC and BD intersecting in S the equation above holds true, then their four endpoints A, B, C, D lie on a common circle. Or in other words, if the diagonals of a quadrilateral ABCD intersect in S and fulfill the equation above, then it is a cyclic quadrilateral.

The value of the two products in the chord theorem depends only on the distance of the intersection point S from the circle's center and is called the absolute value of the power of S ; more precisely, it can be stated that:

where r is the radius of the circle, and d is the distance between the center of the circle and the intersection point S. This property follows directly from applying the chord theorem to a third chord going through S and the circle's center M (see drawing).

The theorem can be proven using similar triangles (via the inscribed-angle theorem). Consider the angles of the triangles ASD and BSC:

This means the triangles ASD and BSC are similar and therefore

Next to the tangent-secant theorem and the intersecting secants theorem the intersecting chords theorem represents one of the three basic cases of a more general theorem about two intersecting lines and a circle - the power of point theorem.

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