GeoGebra Workbook 2

GeoGebra Workbook 2
More Constructions,
Measurements and Sliders
Paddy Johnson and Tim Brophy
www.ul.ie/cemtl/

Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Square Construction and Measurement

Circumscribed Circle of a Triangle
The Input Field
Sliders
The Quadratic Function
Challenge: The Incircle of a Triangle

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GeoGebra Workbook 2

1 - Square Construction and Measurement

Preparations

\
\
\

Open a new GeoGebra file.

Hide the algebra window and coordinate axes (View menu).
Change the labelling setting to New
points only
(menu Options Labelling).

Introduction of new tools

Distance or length
New Tool!
Hint: Select two points, a segment, a polygon or circle to determine
its length
Area
Hint: Click on a polygon, circle or conic to determine its area

New Tool!

Step-by-step Instructions
1.

Create the segment AB that joins the points A and B

2.

Create a perpendicular line b to the segment AB passing through the point B

3.

Create a circle c with center B passing through the point A

4.

Calculate the intersecting point (C) of the perpendicular line b and the circle c

5.

Create a perpendicular line d to the segment AB passing through the point A

6.

Create a circle e with center A passing through the point B

7.

Calculate the intersecting point (D) of the perpendicular line d and the circle e

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GeoGebra Workbook 2

8.

Create the polygon ABCD by clicking on each of the vertices - remember to

click on the first vertex again to close the polygon

9.

Hide the circles and the perpendicular lines

10.

Click on each of the line segments AB, AD, DC and BC to determine its length

11.

Click on the polygon ABCD to determine its area

12.

Apply the drag test to check if the construction is correct and to observe the
changes to the lengths of the sides and the area of the polygon

Hints: Dont forget to read the toolbar help if you dont know how to use a tool. It might be
helpful to try out all the new tools before you start the construction.

2 - Circumscribed Circle of a Triangle

Preparations

\
\
\

Open a new GeoGebra file.

Hide the algebra window and coordinate axes (View menu).
Change the labelling setting to New
points only
(menu Options Labelling).

Introduction of new tools

Perpendicular bisector
New Tool!
Hint: Select two points or a segment to construct the perpendicular
bisector of the segment
Hints: Dont forget to read the toolbar help if you dont know how to use a tool. It might be
helpful to try out the new tool before you start the construction.

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GeoGebra Workbook 2

Step-by-step Instructions
1.

Create an arbitrary triangle ABC

2.

Use the perpendicular bisector tool to bisect each side of the triangle ABC

3.

Calculate the intersecting point of any two of the line bisectors

4.

Create a circle with center D (intersection point) passing through one of the
vertices of the triangle ABC

5.

Apply the drag test to check if the construction is correct

Time to think....
Modify your GeoGebra construction to answer the following questions:

Can the circumcenter of a triangle lie outside the triangle?

If yes, for which types of triangles is this true?

3 - The Input Field

GeoGebra offers algebraic input, via the input field, using only your keyboard. Every tool in
the menu bar has a matching command and therefore, can be applied without using the mouse.
GeoGebra offers more commands than geometry tools. Therefore, not every command that is
possible in GeoGebra has a corresponding geometry tool in the menu bar!

Preparations

\
\
\
\

Open a new GeoGebra file.

Hide the coordinate axes (View
menu).
Show the input field and the algebra
window (View menu).
Change the labelling setting to New
points only
(menu Options Labelling).

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GeoGebra Workbook 2
Before we start . . .

Check out the list of commands at the end of the input field and look for commands whose
corresponding tools were already introduced in this workshop or the last one.

We saw in the last activity how the circumscribed circle of a triangle can be done by using
geometric construction tools only. We will now recreate this construction by just using keyboard
input.

Step-by-step Instructions
1.

A = (2, 3)

2.

(1, 3)

3.

(0, 5)

Create the point C

4.

Polygon [A, B, C]

Creates a polygon joining the points A,B and C

Create the point A

Create the point B - GeoGebra will automatically label the
point with the next available letter

We can clearly see that the points A,B and C appear as Free objects in the algebra window
whereas the polygon appears as a Dependent object. While free objects can be directly modified either using the mouse or the keyboard, dependant objects adapt to changes of their parent
objects.
Task: Activate Move mode and double click an object (point A for example) in the algebra
window in order to change its algebraic representation using the keyboard. Hit the Enter key
once you are done.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Create the perpendicular bisector of polygon side labelled

a in the list of dependent objects
Create the perpendicular bisector of polygon side labelled
PerpendicularBisector[b]
b in the list of dependent objects
Calculate the intersection point of the two perpendicular
Intersect[d, e]
bisectors
PerpendicularBisector[a]

Circle[D, A]

Create a circle centred at D passing through the point A

Tasks: Activate Move mode and either double click an object in the algebra window or use
your mouse in the drawing pad to check whether your construction is correct. Change the properties of some of the objects in order to improve the constructions appearance.
Note: Most people find it easier to use the geometric construction tools to complete a task as
they are not required to remember any commands. Unfortunately with more complex construction it will not be possible to totally avoid using the input field and so we should become as
familiar as possible with using the input field to enter commands.

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GeoGebra Workbook 2

4 - Sliders
The slider button is found in the toolbar across
the top of GeoGebra. When you select it and
click on the drawing pad a window pops up asking for the properties of the slider. These properties include the name, interval, increment of
the slider and the position of the slider (fixed
or moveable). Once you click the apply button
the slider bar, with the name you selected, appears on the drawing pad. The name you give
the slider serves as a variable (whose value dynamically changes when you drag the point on
the slider bar).
The slider, serving as a variable, can be used to show how a certain graph or function behaves
as we change the values (or drag the slider). You can make as many sliders (or variables)
depending on the need of the function or graph. We will show in the next section how to use
sliders to graph a quadratic function and explore how the change in the values of the sliders
(coefficients) effects the overall shape of the graph.

5 - The Quadratic Function

In this section we shall explore the impact of the parameters on the function f (x) = ax2 +bx+c
by using sliders to modify the parameter values.

Preparations

\
\
\

Open a new GeoGebra file.

Show the coordinate axes, input
field and the algebra window (View
menu).
Change the labelling setting to New
points only
(menu Options Labelling).

Introduction of new tools

Slider
New Tool!
Hint: Activate the tool and click on the drawing pad. Adjust the
settings if needed and click Apply

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GeoGebra Workbook 2
Hints: Dont forget to read the toolbar help if you dont know how to use a tool. It might be
helpful to try out the new tool before you start the construction.

Step-by-step Instructions
1.

Create the slider a. The default value is a = 1

2.

Create the slider b. The default value is b = 1

3.

Create the slider c. The default value is c = 1

4.

Using the input field enter the quadratic function

f(x) = a x 2 + b x + c
Hint: You will get by typing Shift-8 and by typing Shift-6

5.

Use the move tool to adjust the sliders a, b and c. Observe the effect on the
function f (x)

Note: It is possible to change the ratio of the x-axis to the y-axis so that we can see more of the
function being graphed on the screen. If you right-click anywhere on the drawing pad you will
see an option there for xAxis : yAxis. Change the xAxis : yAxis = 1 : 5.
Tasks: Change the properties of the function f (x) in order to improve the constructions appearance. Fix the position of the sliders so that they dont get moved around the drawing pad by
accident (properties dialog).

6 - Challenge: Incircle of a Triangle

Construct the incircle of a triangle - the circle in the interior of the triangle that touches all three
sides of the triangle.
Hints: Dont forget to read the toolbar help if you dont know how to use a tool. Try out all the
new tools before you start the construction.
To complete this challenge you will need to use the following tools.
Polygon
Hint: Click on the drawing pad or already existing points in order
to create the vertices of a polygon Connect the last and first vertex
to close the polygon!

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GeoGebra Workbook 2
Angle Bisector
New Tool!
Hint: Click on three points of two lines to bisect the angle between
them
Intersect two objects
Hint: Click on two lines to determine their intersection point
Perpendicular line
Hint: Click on an existing point and then a line to create a perpendicular line through this point
Circle with centre through point
Hint: Your first click is the centre of the circle, your second click
determines the radius of the circle
Move
Hint: Click on an object to move it with your mouse

Things to remember

\
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Dont forget to read the toolbar help

if you dont know how to use a tool.
Try out all new tools before you start
the construction.

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