Analytic Geometry Nov 26 , 2022

Euler’s 9 Point Circle in GeoGebra

The nine-point circle (also known as Euler's circle or Feuerbach's circle) of a given triangle is a
circle which passes through 9 "significant" points:

▪ The three feet of the altitudes of the triangle.

▪ The three midpoints of the edges of the triangle.
▪ The three midpoints of the segments joining the vertices of the triangle to its orthocenter.
(These points are sometimes known as the Euler points of the triangle.)

Step 1: Draw a triangle: Step 2: Draw the perpendicular bisectors of the 3 sides and mark the point where
they all intersect (D).

Step 3: Draw the circle through the point D. Step 4: Draw the altitudes of the triangle. From each line of the triangle, draw
the perpendicular line through its third angle. For example, for the line AC, draw
the perpendicular line that goes through both AC and angle B. Join up the 3
altitudes which will meet at a point (E). This point is the orthocenter.

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Step 5: Draw the median lines in the triangle. Join up the mid points of Step 6: Remove all the construction lines. You can now see we have 3 points in
each side of the triangle with the remaining angle. For example, find the a line. D is the centre of the circle through the points ABC, E is where the
mid point of AC and join this point with angle B. (The median lines of the altitudes of the triangle meet (the orthoocentre of ABC) and F is where the
triangle). Label the point where the 3 lines meet as F. This is the centroid. median lines meet (the centroid of ABC).

Step 7: Join up the 3 points – they are collinear (on the same line). Step 8: Enlarge the circle through points A B C by a scale factor of -1/2
centered on point F.

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Step 9: We now have the 9 point circle. Look at the points where the inner Step 9B: The points P Q R show the points where the perpendicular bisectors of
circle intersects the triangle ABC. You can see that the points M N O the lines start (i.e the midpoints of the lines AB, AC, BC)
show the points where the feet of the altitudes (from step 4) meet the
triangle.

Step 9C: We also have the points S T U on the circle which show the Step 10: We can drag the vertices of the triangle and the above relationships
midpoints of the lines between E and the vertices A, B, C. will still hold.

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Triangle ABC with the nine-point circle in light orange

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Analytic Geometry Problems
1. For what value of k is the line through the points (3, 2k + 1) and (8, 4k − 5) parallel to the x-
axis?

2. The points (1, 2) and (5, p) are a distance of 5 away from each other. Determine the possible
values of p.
3. Determine the centre of a circle which passes through points P(0, 4), Q(2, 0), and R(9, 1).
Hint: The radius of a circle is constant.
4. Determine the values of p for which the point (1, 1, p) is the smallest possible integer
distance away from the origin
5. Q is the point of intersection of the diagonals of one face of a cube of side length 2. What is
the length of QR?

We place the cube with R at the origin as in the diagram below.

6. Find the coordinates of the point that is 1 4 of the distance from A(−1, −1) to B(3, 7).

7. Find the coordinates of the centre of a rectangular prism of height 2 along the z-axis, width 4
along the x-axis, and length 6 along the y-axis, residing in the positive regions of the x, y,
and z axes, and whose corner is at the origin.
8. A(−3, 2), B(7, 2), and C(−1, p) form a right-angled triangle with the right angle at point C.
Determine all possible values of p, without using distance formulae or Pythagorean Theorem.

9. In the diagram, the shaded region is bounded by the x-axis and the lines y = x, and y =
−2x+3. What is the area of the shaded region?

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10. If A(2, 5), B(−3, −6), and C(p, 0) form a triangle of area 10, determine the possible values of
p. Hint: Note that |x| = a leads to cases x = a or x = −a.

11. In the diagram below, the line segments P Q and P R are perpendicular. What is the value of
s?

12. Determine the values of a and b so that the lines y = 3ax − b and y = −2x + a intersect at
(1, 1).

13. We have a cheese cube of side length 10. An ant begins in one of the bottom corners and
walks diagonally across one of the side faces to its centre. The ant then burrows into the
cheese on a diagonal trajectory until it pops out at the centre of the top face. How far was the
ant’s total journey on this path?
14. Given the triangle formed by the points A (a, 0), B (0, b), and C (0, 0), show that the triangle
formed by the midpoints of the sides of △ABC is one quarter the area of △ABC.

15. Given the triangle formed by the points A(a, 0), B(0, b), and C(0, 0), show that the triangle
formed by the midpoints of the sides of △ABC is one quarter the area of △ABC.

16. Two radio towers are spread some distance, d, apart. One tower is 20 metres tall and the
other is 15 metres tall. A rope is strung from the top of each tower to the bottom of the other
tower. The ropes cross somewhere between the two towers. What height above the ground do
the ropes meet?

17. A point A is chosen on the line y = x + 5 and a point B is chosen on y = −2x + 1. If the
midpoint M of the line segment AB is (3, 0), determine the coordinates of A and B.

18. A vertical line divides the triangle with vertices A(0, 0), B(4, 0) and C(8, 4) into two regions
of equal area. Find the equation of the line using analytic geometry.

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