Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In Euclidean geometry, Ptolemy's theorem is a relation between the four sides and two diagonals of a cyclic quadrilateral (a quadrilateral whose vertices lie on a common circle). The theorem is named after the Greek astronomer and mathematician Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus). [ 1 ]
This is a direct consequence of the inscribed angle theorem and the exterior angle theorem. There are no cyclic quadrilaterals with rational area and with unequal rational sides in either arithmetic or geometric progression. [26] If a cyclic quadrilateral has side lengths that form an arithmetic progression the quadrilateral is also ex-bicentric.
This formula generalizes Heron's formula for the area of a triangle. A triangle may be regarded as a quadrilateral with one side of length zero. From this perspective, as d approaches zero, a cyclic quadrilateral converges into a cyclic triangle (all triangles are cyclic), and Brahmagupta's formula simplifies to Heron's formula.
Ptolemy's inequality is often stated for a special case, in which the four points are the vertices of a convex quadrilateral, given in cyclic order. [2] [3] However, the theorem applies more generally to any four points; it is not required that the quadrilateral they form be convex, simple, or even planar.
More generally, a polygon in which all vertices are concyclic is called a cyclic polygon. A polygon is cyclic if and only if the perpendicular bisectors of its edges are concurrent. [10] Every regular polygon is a cyclic polygon. For a cyclic polygon with an odd number of sides, all angles are equal if and only if the polygon is regular.
Bretschneider's formula generalizes Brahmagupta's formula for the area of a cyclic quadrilateral, which in turn generalizes Heron's formula for the area of a triangle.. The trigonometric adjustment in Bretschneider's formula for non-cyclicality of the quadrilateral can be rewritten non-trigonometrically in terms of the sides and the diagonals e and f to give [2] [3]
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
A formula for the area K of a cyclic orthodiagonal quadrilateral in terms of the four sides is obtained directly when combining Ptolemy's theorem and the formula for the area of an orthodiagonal quadrilateral. The result is [10]: p.222 = (+).