15.

PROPERTIES OF TRIANGLES
Synopsis :
1.

The perpendicular bisectors of the sides of a triangle are concurrent. The point of concurrence is
called circumcentre of the triangle. If S is the circumcentre of ABC, then SA = SB = SC. The
circle with center S and radius SA passes through the three vertices A, B, C of the triangle. This
circle is called circumcircle of the triangle. The radius of the circumcircle of ABC is called
circumradius and it is denoted by R.

2.

Sine Rule :

a
b
c
=
=
= 2R.
sin A sin B sin C

a = 2R sin A, b = 2R sin B, c = 2R sin C.

3.

Cosine Rule : a2 = b2 + c2 2bc cos A, b2 = c2 + a2 2ca cos B, c2 = a2 + b2 2ab cos C.

4.

cos A =

b2 + c 2 a 2
2bc

, cos B =

cos C =

a2 + b2 c 2
2ab

c 2 + a2 b2
2ca

5.

Projection Rule : a = b cos C + c cos B, b = c cos A + a cos C, c = a cos B + b cos A.

6.

Tangent Rule or Napiers Analogy : tan

BC bc
A
cot ,
=
2
b
+
c
2

B
CA c a
tan
cot ,
=
2
2 c+a
C
A B a b
tan
cot .
=
2
2 a+b

7.

Mollweide Rule :
a+b
=
c

A B
A B
cos
sin

a
b
2

,
2
=
C
C
c
sin
cos
2
2
(s b)(s c )
B
, sin =
bc
2

8.

sin

A
=
2

9.

cos

A
=
2

s( s a)
B
, cos =
bc
2

10. tan

A
=
2

( s b)(s c )
s(s a)

, tan

(s c )(s a)
C
, sin =
ca
2

s(s b)
C
, cos =
ca
2
B
=
2

(s c )(s a)
s( s b)

(s a)(s b)
.
ab

s( s c )
.
ab

, tan

C
=
2

(s a)(s b)
s(s c )

Properties of Triangles
11. tan

( s b)(s c )
=
=
,
2 s(s a)

tan

(s c )(s a)
,
=
=
2 s( s b)

tan

(s a)(s b)
=
=
2 s(s c )

12. cot

A s(s a)
B s(s b)
C s(s c )
, cot =
, cot =
=
2

13. Area of ABC is =

1
1
1
2
bc sin A = ca sin B = sin C = 2R sin A sin B sin C =
2
2
2

abc
s( s a)(s b)(s c ) .
4R

14. r =

A
B
C
A
B
C
= (s a) tan = (s b) tan = (s c ) tan =
= 4R sin sin sin
s
2
2
2
2
2
2

a
cot

+ cot

=
cot

+ cot

B
2

15. r1 =

B
C
A
A
C
B
= 4R sin cos cos = s tan
= (s b) cot = (s c ) cot =
sa
2
2
2
2
2
2

16. r2 =

B
A
C
= s tan = (s c ) cot = (s a) cot
=
sb
2
2
2

4R cos

17. r3 =

A
B
C
sin cos =
2
2
2

b
tan

A
C
+ tan
2
2

C
B
A

=
= s tan = (s a) cot = (s b) cot
sc
2
2
2

c
.
A
B
tan + tan
2
2

18.

1 1 1 1
+ + = .
r1 r2 r3 r

19. r r1 r2 r3 = 2.

a sin(B C) = 0 .
ii) a cos(B C) = 3abc

20. i)

iii) a2 sin 2B + b2 sin 2A = 4

a
.
C
B
tan + tan
2
2

=
cot

C
2

+ cot

A
2

Properties of Triangles
a2 + b2 + c 2
4

21. i) cotA + cotB + cotC =

ii) cot

A
B
C (a + b + c )2
.
cot cot =
2
2
2
4

22. i) If a cos B = b cos A, then the triangle is isosceles.

ii) If a cos A = b cos B, then the triangle is isosceles or right angled.
iii)If a2 + b2 + c2 = 8R2, then the triangle is right angled.
iv) If cos2A + cos2B + cos2C = 1, then the triangle is right angled.
v) If cosA =
vi) If

sin B
, then the triangle is isosceles.
2 sin C

a
b
c
, then the triangle is equilateral.
=
=
cos A cos B cos C

vii) If cosA + cosB + cosC = 3/2, then the triangle is equilateral.

viii) If sinA + sinB + sinC =

3 3
, then the triangle is equilateral.
2

ix) If cotA + cotB + cotC = 3 , then the triangle is equilateral.

23. i) If

a2 + b2
a b
2

sin( A + B)
, then C = 90.
sin( A B)

ii) If

a+b
b
= 1, then C = 60.
+
b+c c+a

iii)If

1
1
3
, then A = 60
+
=
a+b a+c a+b+c

iv) If

b
a2 c 2

c
a2 b 2

= 0, then A = 60.
A
B
C
are in H.P.
, sin2 , sin2
2
2
2

i)

a, b, c are In H.P. sin2

ii)

a, b, c are in A.P. cot

A
B
C
, cot , cot
2
2
2

iii)

a, b, c are in A.P. tan

A
B
C
are in H.P.
, tan , tan
2
2
2

iv)

a2, b2, c2 are in A.P. cotA, cotB, cotC are in A.P.

v)

a2, b2, c2 are in A.P.

are in A.P.

tanA, tanB, tanC are in H.P