Thales' Theorem

Thales' theorem
Thales's theorem: if AC is a diameter, then the angle at

B is a right angle.
In geometry, Thales' theorem states that if

A, B, and C are distinct points on a circle
where the line AC is a diameter, then the
angle ∠ABC is a right angle. Thales'
theorem is a special case of the inscribed
angle theorem, and is mentioned and
proved as part of the 31st proposition, in
the third book of Euclid's Elements.[1] It is
generally attributed to Thales of Miletus,
who is said to have offered an ox
(probably to the god Apollo) as a sacrifice
of thanksgiving for the discovery, but
sometimes it is attributed to Pythagoras.
History
There is nothing extant of
o se del
the writing of Thales; mezzo cerchio
work done in ancient far si puote
Greece tended to be
attributed to men of triangol sì
wisdom without respect ch'un retto non

avesse.
to all the individuals
involved in any particular Or if in
intellectual constructions semicircle
— this is true of can be
Pythagoras especially. made

Triangle so
Attribution did tend to
that it have
occur at a later time.[2]
no right
Reference to Thales was angle.
made by Proclus, and by
Dante's
Diogenes Laërtius
Paradiso,
documenting Pamphila's Canto 13,
statement that Thales[3] lines 101–
102. English
translation by
Henry
Wadsworth
Longfellow.
“ was the first to inscribe in a circle a

right-angle triangle. ”
Indian and Babylonian mathematicians
knew this for special cases before Thales
proved it.[4] It is believed that Thales
learned that an angle inscribed in a
semicircle is a right angle during his
travels to Babylon.[5] The theorem is
named after Thales because he was said
by ancient sources to have been the first
to prove the theorem, using his own
results that the base angles of an
isosceles triangle are equal, and that the
sum of angles in a triangle is equal to
180°.
Dante's Paradiso (canto 13, lines 101–102)

refers to Thales's theorem in the course of
a speech.
Proof
First proof
The following facts are used: the sum of

the angles in a triangle is equal to 180°
and the base angles of an isosceles
triangle are equal.
Provided AC is a diameter, angle at B is
constant right (90°).
Figure for the proof.

Since OA = OB = OC, ΔOBA and ΔOBC are
isosceles triangles, and by the equality of
the base angles of an isosceles triangle,
∠OBC = ∠OCB and ∠OBA = ∠OAB.
Let α = ∠BAO and β = ∠OBC. The three

internal angles of the ΔABC triangle are α,
(α + β), and β. Since the sum of the angles
of a triangle is equal to 180°, we have
Q.E.D.
Second proof
The theorem may also be proven using

trigonometry: Let ,
, and . Then B is
a point on the unit circle .
We will show that ΔABC forms a right
angle by proving that AB and BC are
perpendicular — that is, the product of
their slopes is equal to −1. We calculate
the slopes for AB and BC:
and
Then we show that their product equals
−1:
Note the use of the Pythagorean
trigonometric identity
.
Third proof
Thales's theorem and reflections
Let be a triangle in a circle where

is a diameter in that circle. Then
construct a new triangle by
mirroring triangle over the line
and then mirroring it again over the line
perpendicular to which goes through
the center of the circle. Since lines
and are parallel, likewise for and
, the quadrilateral is a
parallelogram. Since lines and
are both diameters of the circle and
therefore are equal length, the
parallelogram must be a rectangle. All
angles in a rectangle are right angles.
Converse
For any triangle whatsoever, there is
exactly one circle containing all three
vertices of the triangle. (Sketch of proof.
The locus of points equidistant from two
given points is a straight line that is called
the perpendicular bisector of the line
segment connecting the points. The
perpendicular bisectors of any two sides
of a triangle intersect in exactly one point.
This point must be equidistant from the
vertices of the triangle.) This circle is
called the circumcircle of the triangle.
One way of formulating Thales's theorem

is: if the center of a triangle's circumcircle
lies on the triangle then the triangle is
right, and the center of its circumcircle lies
on its hypotenuse.
The converse of Thales's theorem is then:
the center of the circumcircle of a right
triangle lies on its hypotenuse.
(Equivalently, a right triangle's hypotenuse
is a diameter of its circumcircle.)
This converse is also true.
Proof of the converse using

geometry
Figure for the proof of the converse

This proof consists of 'completing' the
right triangle to form a rectangle and
noticing that the center of that rectangle is
equidistant from the vertices and so is the
center of the circumscribing circle of the
original triangle, it utilizes two facts:
adjacent angles in a parallelogram are

supplementary (add to 180°) and,
the diagonals of a rectangle are equal
and cross each other in their median
point.
Let there be a right angle ∠ABC, r a line

parallel to BC passing by A and s a line
parallel to AB passing by C. Let D be the
point of intersection of lines r and s (Note
that it has not been proven that D lies on
the circle)
The quadrilateral ABCD forms a

parallelogram by construction (as opposite
sides are parallel). Since in a parallelogram
adjacent angles are supplementary (add to
180°) and ∠ABC is a right angle (90°) then
angles ∠BAD, ∠BCD, and ∠ADC are also
right (90°); consequently ABCD is a
rectangle.
Let O be the point of intersection of the

diagonals AC and BD. Then the point O, by
the second fact above, is equidistant from
A,B, and C. And so O is center of the
circumscribing circle, and the hypotenuse
of the triangle (AC) is a diameter of the
circle.
Alternate proof of the converse

using geometry
Given a right triangle ABC with hypotenuse

AC, construct a circle Ω whose diameter is
AC. Let O be the center of Ω. Let D be the
intersection of Ω and the ray OB. By
Thales's theorem, ∠ADC is right. But then
D must equal B. (If D lies inside ΔABC,
∠ADC would be obtuse, and if D lies
outside ΔABC, ∠ADC would be acute.)
Proof of the converse using
linear algebra
This proof utilizes two facts:
two lines form a right angle if and only if

the dot product of their directional
vectors is zero, and
the square of the length of a vector is
given by the dot product of the vector
with itself.
Let there be a right angle ∠ABC and circle

M with AC as a diameter. Let M's center lie
on the origin, for easier calculation. Then
we know
A = − C, because the circle centered at
the origin has AC as diameter, and
(A − B) · (B − C) = 0, because ∠ABC is a
right angle.
It follows
0 = (A − B) · (B − C) = (A − B) · (B + A) =
|A|2 − |B|2.
Hence:
|A| = |B|.
This means that A and B are equidistant

from the origin, i.e. from the center of M.
Since A lies on M, so does B, and the circle
M is therefore the triangle's circumcircle.
The above calculations in fact establish
that both directions of Thales's theorem
are valid in any inner product space.
Generalizations and related

results
Thales's theorem is a special case of the
following theorem:
Given three points A, B and C on a circle

with center O, the angle ∠AOC is twice
as large as the angle ∠ABC.
See inscribed angle, the proof of this

theorem is quite similar to the proof of
Thales's theorem given above.
A related result to Thales's theorem is the
following:
If AC is a diameter of a circle, then:

If B is inside the circle, then ∠ABC >
90°
If B is on the circle, then ∠ABC = 90°
If B is outside the circle, then ∠ABC <
90°.
Application
Constructing a tangent using Thales's theorem.

Thales's theorem can be used to construct
the tangent to a given circle that passes
through a given point (see figure). We can
refer to the image beside, this is one of the
cases where Thales's theorem is used very
frequently.
Thales's theorem can also be used to find

the centre of a circle using an object with a
right angle, such as a set square or
rectangular sheet of paper larger than the
circle.[6] The angle is placed anywhere on
its circumference (figure 1). The
intersections of the two sides with the
circumference define a diameter (figure 2).
Repeating this with a different set of
intersections yields another diameter
(figure 3). The centre is at the intersection
of the diameters.
Illustration of the use of Thales's theorem and a right

angle to find the centre of a circle
See also
Synthetic geometry
Notes
1. Heath, Thomas L. (1956). The thirteen
books of Euclid's elements. New York,
NY [u.a.]: Dover Publ. p. 61.
ISBN 0486600890.
2. Allen, G. Donald (2000). "Thales of
Miletus" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-02-12.
3. Patronis, T.; Patsopoulos, D. The
Theorem of Thales: A Study of the
naming of theorems in school
Geometry textbooks . Patras
University. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
4. de Laet, Siegfried J. (1996). History of
Humanity: Scientific and Cultural
Development. UNESCO, Volume 3, p.
14. ISBN 92-3-102812-X
5. Boyer, Carl B. and Merzbach, Uta C.
(2010). A History of Mathematics.
John Wiley and Sons, Chapter IV.
ISBN 0-470-63056-6
6. Resources for Teaching Mathematics:
14–16 Colin Foster
References
Agricola, Ilka; Friedrich, Thomas (2008).
Elementary Geometry. AMS. p. 50.
ISBN 0-8218-4347-8. (restricted online
copy , p. 50, at Google Books)
Heath, T.L. (1921). A History of Greek
Mathematics: From Thales to Euclid . I.
Oxford. pp. 131ff.
External links
Weisstein, Eric W. "Thales' Theorem" .
MathWorld.
Munching on Inscribed Angles
Thales's theorem explained , with
interactive animation
Demos of Thales's theorem by Michael
Schreiber, The Wolfram Demonstrations
Project.
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title=Thales%27_theorem&oldid=904671384"
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Thales's theorem: if AC is a diameter, then the angle at

In geometry, Thales' theorem states that if

wisdom without respect ch'un retto non

Pythagoras especially. made

“ was the ﬁrst to inscribe in a circle a

Dante's Paradiso (canto 13, lines 101–102)

The following facts are used: the sum of

Figure for the proof.

Let α = ∠BAO and β = ∠OBC. The three

The theorem may also be proven using

Thales's theorem and reﬂections

Let be a triangle in a circle where

One way of formulating Thales's theorem

This converse is also true.

Proof of the converse using

Figure for the proof of the converse

adjacent angles in a parallelogram are

Let there be a right angle ∠ABC, r a line

The quadrilateral ABCD forms a

Let O be the point of intersection of the

Alternate proof of the converse

Given a right triangle ABC with hypotenuse

This proof utilizes two facts:

two lines form a right angle if and only if

Let there be a right angle ∠ABC and circle

This means that A and B are equidistant

Generalizations and related

Given three points A, B and C on a circle

See inscribed angle, the proof of this

If AC is a diameter of a circle, then:

Constructing a tangent using Thales's theorem.

Thales's theorem can also be used to ﬁnd

Illustration of the use of Thales's theorem and a right

Last edited 18 hours ago by Michael…

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