In the above diagram, a circle centred at point is constructed and two points and on the circumference are chosen. Next, another circle centred at with radius is constructed and point is where intersects . Interestingly, if I were to construct a third circle centred at with radius , point would also lie on this circle.
Let be the circumference of circle while be the length of arc . Then,
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Let ∠ C A D = x . Then considering circle C 3 where A D = C D = r C 3 , , we see that ∠ A C D = ∠ C A D = x . It then follows that ∠ B D C = ∠ A C D + ∠ C A D = x + x = ( 1 + 1 ) x = 2 x . Similarly, considering circle C 2 where B C = B D , we have ∠ B C D = ∠ B D C = 2 x .
Next, we also deduce that ∠ B C A = ∠ B C D + ∠ A C D = 2 x + x = ( 2 + 1 ) x = 3 x . Considering circle C 1 where A B = A C , we have ∠ A B C = ∠ B C A = 3 x . To solve for x :
∠ C B D + ∠ B C D + ∠ B D C = π
3 x + 2 x + 2 x = π
( 3 + 4 ) x = π
7 x = π
x = 7 π
Alternatively,
∠ A B C + ∠ A C B + ∠ B A C = π
3 x + 3 x + x = π
( 6 + 1 ) x = π
7 x = π
x = 7 π
Yet another method is:
∠ A D C = ∠ C B D + ∠ B C D = 3 x + 2 x = ( 3 + 2 ) x = 5 x
∠ A D C + ∠ A C D + ∠ C A D = π
5 x + x + x = π
( 5 + 2 ) x = π
7 x = π
x = 7 π
Therefore, Y X = 7 π 2 r C 1 2 π 2 r C 1 = 7 1 2 = 2 × 7 = 1 4