1.
Given: Points lie on a circle with centre . and . is a point on the circle other than the arc .
Find:
Solution:
The central angle subtending arc equals . An inscribed angle subtending the same arc is half the central angle. So
Answer:
2.
Problem: A chord of a circle equals the radius. Find the angle subtended by that chord at (a) a point on the minor arc, and (b) a point on the major arc.
Solution:
Let the circle have radius . If a chord has length and subtends central angle , then
So (taking the acute value), hence .
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At a point on the minor arc the inscribed angle equals half the central angle: .
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At a point on the major arc the inscribed angle subtends the reflex arc , so its measure is
Answer: Minor arc: . Major arc:
3.
Given (Fig. 9.24): lie on a circle with centre and .
Find: .
Solution:
The inscribed angle subtends arc . So the central angle subtending the same arc (the reflex or full measure) is . The interior central angle between radii and is the smaller one, i.e. . In isosceles triangle (since ), the base angles at and are equal and each is
Thus
Answer:
4.
Given (Fig. 9.25): are on a circle and
Find:
Solution:
In the angle at is
Both and are inscribed angles that subtend the same arc . Angles in the same segment are equal. Hence
Answer:
5.
Given (Fig. 9.26): are on a circle. Chords and meet at inside the circle. and .
Find: .
Solution:
Note lies on chord , so ray lies along chord . Thus . Since is an inscribed angle subtending arc ,
For two chords intersecting inside a circle the angle between them is half the sum of the measures of the arcs intercepted by the angle and its vertical angle. Thus
Given and , we get
The inscribed angle subtends arc , so
Answer:
6.
Given: is cyclic; diagonals meet at . and .
(a) Find .
(b) If , find .
Solution (a):
is an inscribed angle subtending arc , so arc . is an angle at subtending arc , so arc . Assume vertices are in order around the circle; then the arc that does not contain equals arc . The angle is an inscribed angle that subtends arc not containing , so
Answer (a):
Solution (b): If , then chord equals chord so their arcs are equal: arc arc . The remaining arc (between and ) equals Angle has vertex at and ray lies along (since is intersection of diagonals), so , an inscribed angle subtending arc . Thus
Answer (b):
7.
Problem: If the diagonals of a cyclic quadrilateral are diameters of the circumcircle, prove the quadrilateral is a rectangle.
Solution:
Let the cyclic quadrilateral be and suppose its diagonals and are diameters of the circle. Any angle subtended by a diameter is a right angle (angle in a semicircle). Hence
and similarly the other two angles subtend the other diameter so all interior angles are . A quadrilateral with all angles right is a rectangle.
Answer: It is a rectangle.
8.
Problem: If the non-parallel sides of a trapezium are equal, prove the trapezium is cyclic.
Solution:
Let trapezium have and non-parallel sides . By standard isosceles trapezium arguments (use congruence of appropriate triangles formed by extending a side or constructing a suitable parallel), one shows and . But since , consecutive interior angles on a transversal satisfy . Hence
Thus a pair of opposite angles sum to , so the trapezium is cyclic (a quadrilateral is cyclic iff a pair of opposite angles sum to ).
Answer: The trapezium is cyclic.
9.
Given (Fig. 9.27): Two circles meet at and . Through draw a line meeting the first circle again at and the second at . Another line through meets the first circle again at and the second at .
Prove: .
Solution (clear synthetic argument):
Label the two lines through as (containing ) and (containing ). Note:
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Points lie on the first circle, so (angle at formed by and ) is an inscribed angle subtending chord . By the “angles in the same segment” property,
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Points lie on the second circle, so (angle at formed by and ) is also an inscribed angle subtending chord . Thus
Now observe that and are vertically opposite or supplementary pairs produced by the two straight lines and through . In fact, and are the same straight line (opposite directions of ), and and are the same straight line (opposite directions of ), so the angle between and equals the angle between and . Hence
Combining the equalities gives , as required.
Answer:
10.
Problem: If circles are drawn with two sides of a triangle as diameters, prove that the point(s) of intersection of these circles lie on the third side.
Solution:
Let triangle be . Draw the circle with diameter and the circle with diameter . Any point common to both circles (other than ) satisfies
So , which means points are collinear. Thus intersection point(s) lie on line .
Answer: The intersection point(s) lie on the third side .
11.
Problem: and are right triangles with common hypotenuse . Prove that .
Solution:
Because both and are right triangles with hypotenuse , all four points lie on the circle with diameter (angle in a semicircle is ). Thus quadrilateral is cyclic. The angles and subtend the same arc , so by the “angles in the same segment” theorem,
Answer:
12.
Problem: Prove that a cyclic parallelogram is a rectangle.
Solution:
Let be a parallelogram which is cyclic. In a parallelogram opposite angles are equal: and . In a cyclic quadrilateral opposite angles are supplementary: . Combining these two facts gives . Hence each interior angle is ; therefore the parallelogram is a rectangle.
Answer: A cyclic parallelogram is a rectangle.
