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GEOMETRY

Please write your working as shown in these examples. PRACTISE and REMEMBER the steps.

ANGLE PROPERTIES

1 Sum of adjacent angles on a straight line = 180°

Given 3 angles on a straight line, find angle α. 70°

60° α
WORKING
α = 180° − 60° − 70° (adj. ∠s on a straight line)
= 50°

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2 Sum of adjacent angles at a point = 360°
100°
Given 3 angles at a point, find angle α.
α
WORKING 120°
α = 360° − 100° − 120° (adj. ∠s at a point)
= 140°

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3 Vertically opposite angles are equal
α
Given 2 vertically opposite angles, find angle α.

WORKING
α = 50° (vert. opp. ∠s)
50°

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4 Alternate angles are equal
A B
α
Given 2 parallel lines with 2 alternate angles, find angle α.

WORKING
α = 50° (alt. ∠s, AB // CD ) 50°
C D

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5 Corresponding angles are equal
A B
Given 2 parallel lines with 2 corresponding angles, find angle α. α

WORKING
α = 50° (corr. ∠s, AB // CD ) C
50° D

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6 Sum of interior angles = 180°
A B
Given 2 parallel lines with 2 interior angles, find angle α. α

WORKING 130°
α = 180° − 130° (int. ∠s, AB // CD )
= 50° C D

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GEOMETRY

TRIANGLES

7 Pythagoras' theorem A
Given a right-angled ∆ABC , find the length of AC.
5 cm
WORKING
In ∆ABC , AC 2 = AB 2 − BC 2 (Pythagoras' theorem)
AC 2 = 52 − 32
B C
AC = 16 = 4 cm 3 cm

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8 Sum of interior angles of a triangle = 180° A

Given a triangle, find interior angle ABC.

50°
WORKING
In ∆ABC , ∠ABC = 180° − ∠BCA − ∠CAB ( ∠ sum of ∆ ) 70°
= 180° − 70° − 50°
= 60° B C

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9 For an isosceles triangle, the base angles are equal

Given a triangle with 2 sides of equal length, find interior angle ABC.

WORKING A
In ∆ABC , AB = AC (given)
∴ ∠ABC = ∠ACB (base ∠s of isos. ∆) 20°
180° − ∠BAC
∴ ∠ABC = (∠ sum of ∆)
2
180° − 20°
=
2
= 80° B C

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10 For an equilateral triangle, each interior angle = 60° A

Given a triangle with 3 sides of equal length, find interior angle ABC.

WORKING
In ∆ABC , AB = BC = CA (given)
∴ ∠ABC = 60° (equil. ∆ )
B C
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11 Exterior angle of a triangle = sum of interior opposite angles A

Given a triangle and one exterior angle, find interior angle ABC.
60°
WORKING
In ∆ABC , ∠ACP = ∠ABC + ∠CAB (ext. ∠ of ∆ = sum of int. opp. ∠s) 110°
110° = ∠ABC + 60°
∴ ∠ABC = 110° − 60° B C P
= 50°

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GEOMETRY

QUADRILATERALS and OTHER POLYGONS

12 Sum of interior angles of a quadrilateral = 360° B

A
Given a quadrilateral, find interior angle ABC. 100°
WORKING
In quad. ABCD , ∠ABC = 360° − ∠BCD − ∠CDA − ∠DAB ( ∠ sum of quad.)
= 360° − 80° − 110° − 100° 110°
= 70° 80°
D
C

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13 For a parallelogram, the opposite sides are equal
the opposite angles are equal
A B
Given a parallelogram, find length of side BC and interior angle ABC.

WORKING 3 cm
In //gram ABCD , BC = AD (opp. sides of //gram)
50°
= 3 cm
∠ABC = ∠ADC (opp. ∠s of //gram) D C
= 50°

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14 For a regular polygon with n sides,
(n − 2)(180°)
sum of interior angles = (n − 2)(180°) ⇒ each interior angle =
n
360°
sum of exterior angles = 360° ⇒ each exterior angle =
n

Given a regular hexagon, find interior angle α and exterior angle β.

A B
WORKING
In hexagon ABCDEF, sum of interior ∠s = (6 − 2)(180°) = 720°
720° F α C
∴ α = (regular hexagon)
6
β
= 120°
E D
sum of exterior ∠s = 360°
360°
∴ β = (regular hexagon)
6
= 60°

Method 2: β = 180° − α (adj. ∠s on a straight line)

= 18 0° − 60°
= 60°

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GEOMETRY
CIRCLES
15 Angle at the centre is twice the angle at the circumference

∠a = 2∠b ( ∠ at centre = 2 ∠ at circumference) b b

b
O b O
• O• O• •
a a a a

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16 The angle in a semicircle is a right angle
a
∠a = 90° (right ∠ in a semicircle) •
O

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17 Angles in the same segment are equal

∠a = ∠b (∠s in same segment)

•
O
a
b

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18 Angles in opposite segments are supplementary
b
∠a + ∠b = 180° (∠s in opp. segments)
•
O
a

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19 Tangent and radius are perpendicular

∠a = 90° (tangent ⊥ radius)

•O

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20 Tangents from an external point are equal in length.
The line from an external point to the centre bisects A
the angle between the tangents
the angle between the radii
c
O•
PA = PB (tangents from an ext. point) a
d
b P
∠a = ∠b (line from an ext. point to centre bisects ∠ between tangents)
B
∠c = ∠d (line from an ext. point to centre bisects ∠ between radii)

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21 The perpendicular bisector of a chord passes through the centre

Line L, the perpendicular bisector of chord AB, passes through centre O

(⊥ bisector of chord passes through centre) •O
B

A
L
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22 Chords of equal lengths are equidistant from the centre
P Y
AB = PQ ⇔ OX = OY (equal chords are equidistant from centre) Q
•O
B
X
A
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 5

GEOMETRY
CONGRUENT TRIANGLES
2 triangles are congruent if one of these 4 conditions is satisfied:
(1) SSS (3 pairs of corresponding sides are equal)
(2) SAS (2 pairs of corresponding sides are equal and the angles in between them are equal)
(3) AAS (2 pairs of corresponding angles are equal and 1 pair of corresponding sides are equal)
(4) RHS (for 2 right-angled triangles, the hypotenuses and another pair of corresponding sides are equal)

EXAMPLE
Prove that triangles ABC and PQR are congruent.
A P
In ∆ABC and ∆PQR ,
∠BCA = ∠QRP = 90° (given) 5 cm 5 cm
AB = PQ (given)
BC = QR (given)
∴ ∆ABC and ∆PQR are congruent (RHS) B 3 cm C Q 3 cm R

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SIMILAR TRIANGLES
2 triangles are similar if one of these 3 conditions is satisfied:
(1) 2 pairs of corresponding angles are equal
(2) 3 pairs of corresponding sides are proportional
(3) 2 pairs of corresponding sides are proportional and the angles between them are equal

EXAMPLES A
(1) Prove that triangles ABC and ADE are similar.

In ∆ABC and ∆ADE , B C

∠A is a common angle
∠ABC = ∠ADE (corr. ∠s, BC//DE)
∴ ∆ABC and ∆ADE are similar (2 pairs of corr. ∠s equal) D E

(2) Prove that triangles ABC and PQR are similar.

P
A
In ∆ABC and ∆PQR ,
AB 8 2
= =
PQ 12 3 8 6 12 9
BC 6 2
= =
QR 9 3
B 4 C
CA 4 2
= = R
RP 6 3 Q 6
∴ ∆ABC and ∆PQR are similar (3 pairs of corr. sides proportional)

(3) Prove that triangles ABC and ADE are similar. C B

In ∆ABC and ∆ADE , 3 4
AB 4 1 A
= =
AD 12 3
CA 3 1
= = 12 9
EA 9 3
∠CAB = ∠EAD (vert. opp. ∠s)
∴ ∆ABC and ∆PQR are similar
D E
(2 pairs of corr. sides proportional, ∠s between them equal)

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