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Cyclic Quadrilateral - Overview, Properties & Theorems

A cyclic quadrilateral is a quadrilateral that can be inscribed in a circle, with all four corners lying on the circumference. To be cyclic, a quadrilateral must have: 1) opposite angles summing to 180 degrees, 2) diagonals following Ptolemy's theorem, and 3) perpendicular bisectors of the sides concurrent at the center. Common cyclic quadrilaterals include rectangles and isosceles trapezoids. Theorems about cyclic quadrilaterals relate to their angles, diagonals, and calculating their areas. Mistakes involve adding adjacent angles rather than opposite angles.

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268 views

Cyclic Quadrilateral - Overview, Properties & Theorems

A cyclic quadrilateral is a quadrilateral that can be inscribed in a circle, with all four corners lying on the circumference. To be cyclic, a quadrilateral must have: 1) opposite angles summing to 180 degrees, 2) diagonals following Ptolemy's theorem, and 3) perpendicular bisectors of the sides concurrent at the center. Common cyclic quadrilaterals include rectangles and isosceles trapezoids. Theorems about cyclic quadrilaterals relate to their angles, diagonals, and calculating their areas. Mistakes involve adding adjacent angles rather than opposite angles.

Uploaded by

pawan nishal
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is a Cyclic Quadrilateral?


A cyclic quadrilateral is any quadrilateral that can have a circle drawn around it, with all four
corners of the quadrilateral on the line of the circle. A quadrilateral is any shape with four
straight sides and four angles. Quadrilaterals include:
Rectangles (and the special form of a rectangle, the square)
Parallelogram
Trapezoid
Rhombus

All rectangles are cyclic quadrilaterals, a trapezoid is only a cyclic quadrilateral if it is an isosceles
trapezoid, a parallelogram is sometimes a cyclic quadrilateral, and a rhombus is never a cyclic
quadrilateral..

Image 1. This quadrilateral has all four corners on the circle, making it a cyclic quadrilateral

Practice Quiz Course 77K views


Properties of Cyclic Quadrilaterals
For a quadrilateral to be cyclic it needs to have the following properties:
∠A + ∠C = 180 and ∠B + ∠D = 180 where angle A and angle C are opposite angles, and angle
B and angle D are opposite angles

E1 × E2 = (AB × CD) + (BC × AD) , where E1 and E2 are the diagonal lines, AB and CD are
opposite sides, and BC and AD are also opposite sides

Perpendicular bisectors are concurrent, and the perpendicular bisector for each of the four sides
meets at the center
The exterior angle of a vertex (corner) is equal to the opposite vertex's interior angle
Area of cyclic quadrilateral equals √(s − a)(s − b)(s − c)(s − d), where s is the semi-perimeter
and a, b, c, and d are the side lengths.

Cyclic Quadrilateral Theorems


There are several cyclic quadrilateral theorems that go along with the properties of a cyclic
quadrilateral. These include:
Supplementary opposite angles theorem
Isosceles Trapezoid theorem
Cyclic quadrilateral theorem, also called Ptolemy's theorem
Brahmagupta theorem of area

The supplementary opposite angles theorem explains the cyclic quadrilateral property that
∠A + ∠C = 180 and ∠B + ∠D = 180 and that the exterior angle of a vertex (corner) is
equal to the opposite vertex's interior angle. In this theorem, any two opposite angles need to
add up to 180 degrees. If the angles of a quadrilateral equal 25, 155, 36, and 144 (in order
around the quadrilateral), then this would not follow this theorem, because 25 + 36 ≠ 180 and
155 + 144 ≠ 180 . But if the angles of a quadrilateral equal 37, 49, 143, and 131 then this is a
cyclic quadrilateral, because 37 + 143 = 180 and 49 + 131 = 180 .

The isosceles trapezoid theorem states that a trapezoid is only a cyclic quadrilateral if it is an
isosceles trapezoid. An isosceles trapezoid is a trapezoid where the two legs of the trapezoid are
equal in length.

Ptolemy's theorem explains the formula E1 × E2 = (AB × CD) + (BC × AD). The
diagonals, E1 and E2, are the lines drawn between opposite vertexes. In a cyclic quadrilateral,
these diagonals lines multiplied by each other equal the sum of the opposite sides multiplied by
each other.
Image 2. In this cyclic quadrilateral AC x BD = (AB x CD) + (BC x DA), according Ptolemys theorem

Brahmagupta theorem of area explains the property describing the area of a cyclic quadrilateral
√ (s − a)(s − b)(s − c)(s − d) . Where s is the semiperimeter, which is equal to s =
a+b+c+d

, and a, b, c, and d are the lengths of the sides.

Common Mistakes with Cyclic Quadrilaterals

Mistakes to watch out for when determining if a quadrilateral is a cyclic include:


Assuming that a quadrilateral is or is not cyclic based on how it looks
Adding angles next to each other (instead of opposite each other) to see if the angles equal 180
degrees
Not checking if opposite angles add up to 180 degrees
Assuming that angles next to each other are equal

Examples of Quadrilaterals Inscribed in a Circle


Using the cyclic quadrilateral theorems, quadrilaterals can be determined whether or not they
are cyclic. And, if a quadrilateral is known to be cyclic, then information about that quadrilateral
can be determined using these same theorems. This includes finding the size of unknown
angles, finding the area of a quadrilateral, and the measure of unknown sides.

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