Napoleon's and van Aubel's Theorems

Starting with any triangle ABC, construct an equilateral triangle on each side, and then connect the centers of the triangles. The points form another equilateral triangle. This result is known as Napoleon's theorem.
For a quadrilateral ABCD, the similar process of constructing a square on each side and then joining the centers does not result in a square. However, the line segments joining the centers of opposite squares are always the same length and at right angles to each other. This is known as van Aubel's theorem.

(36 lines omitted)

Snapshot 1: the triangle relationship holds even if the three points are collinear
Snapshot 3: the quadrilateral relationship holds even when the line segments do not intersect
M. Gardner, Chapters 5 and 14, Mathematical Circus, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979.
comments
 
Powered by Wolfram Mathematica
Give us your feedback
Give us your feedback

Source page:




 often  occasionally  never

Note: Please do not include anything you consider confidential or proprietary. Your message and contact information may be shared with the author of any specific Demonstration for which you give feedback, but will not otherwise be published or distributed.
Privacy Policy »

Note: To run this Demonstration you need the free
Mathematica Player
or Mathematica 7+
Download or upgrade to Mathematica Player 7
I already have Mathematica Player or Mathematica 7+