Theorem 32.0.1 · Similar Triangles
For similar triangles:
- All the angles of the triangles are the same.
- All corresponding sides have the same ratio.
- The ratio of the areas is the square of the side length ratio.
Same shape, different size: spot two equal angles and every length scales by k, every area by k². Plus the right-triangle altitude facts and the Angle Bisector Theorem.
In this section you will be able to spot similar triangles, scale lengths by k and areas by k², and use the altitude of a right triangle.
Same shape, different size: every length scales by and every area by . Spot two equal angles and you get both for free.
Two triangles are similar when one is a scaled copy of the other. You rarely measure all three angles. Look for parallel lines (they make equal angles) and shared or vertical angles: two equal angles are enough.
Once you have them, write the ratios in matching order: the side opposite the same angle goes on top each time.
Right triangles hide three similar copies at once. Drop the altitude to the hypotenuse, and every product in Theorem 32.0.3 falls out of one ratio.
For similar triangles:
Two triangles are similar if the three angles in the triangles are the same. In other words, the triangles are the same shape multiplied by a scale factor. In general, triangles are similar if:
Warning: SSA does not mean the triangles are similar.
An easy way to spot similar triangles: the bases of the triangles are parallel and their sides lie on the same lines (an hourglass, or one triangle sitting inside another).
In a right triangle where is the right angle and is the altitude to the hypotenuse, the following triangles are similar:
The length of the perpendicular to the hypotenuse is
Also:
Why are the three triangles similar? and share and both have a right angle, so they are similar by AA. In the same way and share .
Where do the products come from? Each one is a pair of matching ratios. From : , so . From : , so . The third is the same with .
And ? Twice the area is .
A point is chosen in the interior of such that when lines are drawn through parallel to the sides of , the resulting smaller triangles , , and in the figure have areas , , and , respectively. Find the area of .
Each small triangle has its three sides parallel to the sides of . How is it related to ?
In square , points and lie on and , respectively. Segments and intersect at right angles at , with and . What is the area of the square?
What is ?
Quadrilateral satisfies , , and . Diagonals and intersect at point , and . What is the area of quadrilateral ?
Start with the easy half. What is ?
A paper triangle with sides of lengths , , and inches, as shown, is folded so that point falls on point . What is the length in inches of the crease?
Rectangle has and . Point is the midpoint of diagonal , and is on with . What is the area of ?
In rectangle , and . Points and are on so that and . Lines and intersect at . Find the area of .
Three unit squares and two line segments connecting two pairs of vertices are shown. What is the area of ?
Right triangle has leg lengths and . Including and , how many line segments with integer length can be drawn from vertex to a point on hypotenuse ?
In with a right angle at , point lies in the interior of and point lies in the interior of so that , , and the ratio . What is the ratio ?
In rectangle , and . Point between and , and point between and are such that . Segments and intersect at and , respectively. The ratio can be written as where the greatest common factor of , , and is . What is ?
The diagram below shows a rectangle with side lengths and and a square with side length . Three vertices of the square lie on three different sides of the rectangle, as shown. What is the area of the region inside both the square and the rectangle?
Let be a rhombus with . Let be the midpoint of , and let be the point on such that is perpendicular to . What is the degree measure of ?
Rectangle has and . Point is the foot of the perpendicular from to diagonal . What is the area of ?
In this section you will be able to use the Angle Bisector Theorem to split a side in the ratio of the two sides next to it.
A bisector splits the opposite side in the ratio of the two sides beside it. The longer side gets the longer piece.
The proof is about areas. Triangles and have the same height from , and is equally far from and . Compare the two areas both ways and the ratio drops out.
Two bisectors meet at the incenter. Use the theorem twice, and the incenter splits each bisector in the ratio (sum of the two sides at that vertex) : (opposite side).
If the line bisects angle of triangle (with on ), then
Equivalently, : the longer side gets the longer piece.
Areas. Triangles and share the height from , so .
Areas again. is on the bisector, so it is the same distance from and from : .
So , which rearranges to .
In , , , and . Point lies on , and bisects . Point lies on , and bisects . The bisectors intersect at . What is the ratio ?
Use the Angle Bisector Theorem on : , and . What is ?
In triangle , and . The angle bisector of intersects at point , and point is the midpoint of . Let be the point of the intersection of and . The ratio of to can be expressed in the form , where and are relatively prime positive integers. Find .
First, the Angle Bisector Theorem. What is ?
Triangle with and has area . Let be the midpoint of , and let be the midpoint of . The angle bisector of intersects and at and , respectively. What is the area of quadrilateral ?
Let be a scalene triangle. Point lies on so that bisects . The line through perpendicular to intersects the line through parallel to at point . Suppose and . What is ?
Trapezoid has sides , , , and , with parallel to . A circle with center on is drawn tangent to and . Given that , where and are relatively prime positive integers, find .
Let be a triangle where is the midpoint of , and is the angle bisector of with on . Let be the intersection of the median and the bisector . In addition is equilateral with . What is ?
In this section you will be able to mix similar triangles, the right-triangle altitude and the Angle Bisector Theorem on harder contest problems.
Time to mix it up. In each problem, first find the pair of similar triangles. The algebra after that is short. Every problem has three hints if you get stuck.
Want every problem from this chapter on one page? Open the problem set.
Trapezoid has , , and . Let be the intersection of the diagonals and , and let be the midpoint of . Given that , the length can be written in the form , where and are positive integers and is not divisible by the square of any prime. What is ?
In quadrilateral , and , , , and . The length may be written in the form , where and are relatively prime positive integers. Find .
Triangle has , and . Let be the point on such that . There are exactly two points and on line such that quadrilaterals and are trapezoids. What is the distance ?
This problem also appears in the book as 32.2.7.
Triangle with and has area . Let be the midpoint of , and let be the midpoint of . The angle bisector of intersects and at and , respectively. What is the area of quadrilateral ?
Rectangle has and . Point is chosen on side so that . What is the degree measure of ?
An angle is drawn on a set of equally spaced parallel lines as shown. The ratio of the area of shaded region to the area of shaded region is . Find the ratio of shaded region to the area of shaded region .
Let be an interior point of triangle and extend lines from the vertices through to the opposite sides. Let , , , and denote the lengths of the segments indicated in the figure. Find the product if and .
In triangle , , , and . Distinct points , , and lie on segments , , and , respectively, such that , , and . The length of segment can be written as , where and are relatively prime positive integers. What is ?
The altitude to the hypotenuse of a -- triangle is divided into two segments of lengths by the median to the shortest side of the triangle. What is the ratio ?
A square with side length is inscribed in a right triangle with sides of length , , and so that one vertex of the square coincides with the right-angle vertex of the triangle. A square with side length is inscribed in another right triangle with sides of length , , and so that one side of the square lies on the hypotenuse of the triangle. What is ?
In trapezoid , leg is perpendicular to bases and , and diagonals and are perpendicular. Given that and , find .
Rhombus is inscribed in rectangle so that vertices , , , and are interior points on sides , , , and , respectively. It is given that , , , and . Let , in lowest terms, denote the perimeter of . Find .
In the right triangle , we have , , and . Points , , and are located on , , and , respectively, so that , , and . What is the ratio of the area of to that of ?
A silo (a right circular cylinder) with diameter meters stands in a field. MacDonald is located meters west and meters south of the center of the silo. McGregor is located meters east and meters south of the center of the silo. The line of sight between MacDonald and McGregor is tangent to the silo. The value of can be written as , where , , , are positive integers, is not divisible by the square of any prime, and is relatively prime to . What is ?
In rectangle , , , and points , , and are midpoints of , , and , respectively. Point is the midpoint of . What is the area of the shaded region?
Rectangle has and . Segment is constructed through so that is perpendicular to , and and lie on and , respectively. What is ?
In rectangle , we have , , is on with , is on with , line intersects line at , and is on line with . Find the length .
Square has sides of length . Points and are on and , respectively, so that is equilateral. A square with vertex has sides that are parallel to those of and a vertex on . The length of a side of this smaller square is , where , , and are positive integers and is not divisible by the square of any prime. Find .