BRAHMAGUPTA’S FORMULA FOR AREA OF A CYCLIC QUADRILATERAL

SHAILESH A SHIRALI

Heron’s formula for the area of a triangle in terms of its sides is well known to school
students: if the sides of the triangle are a, b, c, and its semi-perimeter is s = 21 (a + b + c),
then its area ∆ is
∆ = s(s − a)(s − b)(s − c).
p
(1)
But few students know of another very similar formula found by the seventh century Indian
mathematician Brahmagupta. It has the beautiful feature that it yields Heron’s formula as a
corollary. It states that if a quadrilateral ABCD is cyclic, and its sides are AB = a, BC = b,
CD = c, DA = d, and its semi-perimeter is s = 21 (a + b + c + d), then its area ∆ is
∆ = (s − a)(s − b)(s − c)(s − d).
p
(2)

A
b

a
d

B
b
b
D
c

Figure 1

Before proving it, note that if we put d = 0, then the quadrilateral reduces to a triangle (since
two of its vertices are now coincident), and the above formula reduces to the one given by
Heron’s formula. (Note that a triangle is always cyclic.)
2 SHAILESH A SHIRALI

Proof. Our proof is trigonometric — much like the trigonometric proof we gave for Heron’s
formula. Let u denote the length of the diagonal BD (see Figure 2). Our strategy will be to
equate two different expressions for u with each other, obtained using the cosine rule, and
thereby get an expression for the cosine and sine ∠A.

A
b

a
d

b
u
B
b
b
D
c

Figure 2

We have:

(3) u2 = a2 + d 2 − 2ad cos A,

(4) u2 = b2 + c2 − 2bc cosC.

Also, ∠A + ∠C = 180◦ , since the quadrilateral is cyclic, so cosC = − cos A. We therefore

have:

(5) a2 + d 2 − 2ad cos A = b2 + c2 + 2bc cos A,

giving:

a2 − b2 − c2 + d 2
(6) cos A = .
2(ad + bc)
 BRAHMAGUPTA’S FORMULA FOR AREA OF A CYCLIC QUADRILATERAL 3

Using this relation we get expressions for cos 12 A as well as sin 12 A, and from these, and an
expression for sin A:
A
2 cos2 = 1 + cos A
2
a2 − b2 − c2 + d 2
= 1+
2(ad + bc)
(a2 + 2ad + d 2 ) − (b2 − 2bc + c2 )
=
2(ad + bc)
(a + d)2 − (b − c)2
=
2(ad + bc)
(a + d + b − c)(a + d − b + c)
=
2(ad + bc)
(2s − 2c)(2s − 2b)
=
2(ad + bc)
(s − c)(s − b)
(7) = 2× .
ad + bc
Next:
A
2 sin2 = 1 − cos A
2
a2 − b2 − c2 + d 2
= 1−
2(ad + bc)
(b2 + 2bc + c2 ) − (a2 − 2ad + d 2 )
=
2(ad + bc)
(b + c)2 − (a − d)2
=
2(ad + bc)
(b + c + a − d)(b + c − a + d)
=
2(ad + bc)
(2s − 2d)(2s − 2a)
= ,
2(ad + bc)
A (s − d)(s − a)
(8) ∴ 2 sin2 = 2× .
2 ad + bc
Hence we get, by multiplication:
A A
sin A = 2 cos sin
2 2
p
(s − a)(s − b)(s − c)(s − d)
(9) = 2× .
ad + bc
4 SHAILESH A SHIRALI

Finally we use the sine formula for area of a triangle:

Area(ABCD) = Area(△ABD) + Area(△BCD)

1 1
= ad sin A + bc sinC
2 2
1
= (ad + bc) sin A (since sinC = sin A)
2
p
1 (s − a)(s − b)(s − c)(s − d)
= (ad + bc) × 2 × ,
2 ad + bc
p
(10) ∴ Area(ABCD) = (s − a)(s − b)(s − c)(s − d).

E XTENSION : AREA OF A GENERAL QUADRILATERAL

Using the above approach we shall get a formula for the area of a general quadrilateral —
i.e., one that is not necessarily cyclic.

Using the same notation as earlier, except that we no longer assume that ABCD is cyclic,
we have:

(11) u2 = a2 + d 2 − 2ad cos A,

(12) u2 = b2 + c2 − 2bc cosC,

1
(13) Area(ABCD) = (ad sin A + bc sinC).
2
From these we get:

(14) 2(ad cos A − bc cosC) = a2 − b2 − c2 + d 2 ,

(15) 2(ad sin A + bc cosC) = 4∆.

If we square both sides of both these relations and add the corresponding sides, a convenient
simplification occurs. On the left side we get:

4(ad cos A − bc cosC)2 + 4(ad sin A + bc cosC)2

= 4 a2 d 2 + b2 c2 − 2abcd cos A cosC + 2abcd sin A sinC

= 4 a2 d 2 + b2 c2 − 8abcd cos(A +C).

On the right side we get

2
a2 − b2 − c2 + d 2 + 16∆2 .
 BRAHMAGUPTA’S FORMULA FOR AREA OF A CYCLIC QUADRILATERAL 5

Hence:

2
16∆2 = 4 a2 d 2 + b2 c2 − a2 − b2 − c2 + d 2 − 8abcd cos(A +C)

= − a4 + b4 + c4 + d 4 + 2 a2 b2 + a2 c2 + a2 d 2 + b2 c2 + b2 d 2 + c2 d 2

− 8abcd cos(A +C).

This is the desired formula.

If the quadrilateral happens to be cyclic, then we have A +C = 180◦ , so the above formula
reduces to

16∆2

= −a4 + 2a2 b2 + 2a2 c2 + 2a2 d 2 − b4 + 2b2 c2 + 2b2 d 2 − c4 + 2c2 d 2 − d 4 + 8abcd,

and this may be factorized to yield:

(16) 16∆2 = (a + b + c − d)(a + b − c + d)(a − b + c + d)(−a + b + c + d).

We have recovered Brahmagupta’s formula. This means that we have a two fold general-
ization of Heron’s formula for area of a triangle.

A corollary. The formula

16∆2 = − a4 + b4 + c4 + d 4 + 2 a2 b2 + a2 c2 + a2 d 2 + b2 c2 + b2 d 2 + c2 d 2

− 8abcd cos(A +C)

yields an interesting corollary. We imagine that the side lengths a, b, c, d of quadrilateral

ABCD are given, but we do not know the angles of this quadrilateral. Now to “fix” a
quadrilateral we need five independent “bits” of information about it. As we already have
four bits, we only need one more bit; this could be one of its angles, or the length of a
diagonal, or the angle between the diagonals, or the information that the quadrilateral is
cyclic, . . . . There are infinitely many quadrilaterals ABCD for which the sides have the
given lengths, in the given cyclic order. Hence it is meaningful to ask: Which of these
quadrilaterals has the maximum area?

Since cos(A+C) lies between −1 and 1, the quantity −8abcd cos(A+C) takes its maximum
value when A + C = 180◦ , the maximum value being 8abcd. But this corresponds to the
quadrilateral being cyclic. Hence, with the given side lengths, the quadrilateral with the
largest area is the one which is cyclic.
6 SHAILESH A SHIRALI

B RIEF BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Brahmagupta (598–670 AD) was one of the great mathematicians of ancient India. He lived
in the century after Aryabhata and was the head of the astronomical observatory in Ujjain
in central India, a great center of mathematical activity during his time. He wrote several
texts, among which Brahma Sphuta Siddhanta is of particular significance in terms of its
impact, as it was translated into Arabic during the 8th century and served as a starting point
for Al Khwarizmi’s highly influential book on Algebra. It was through this book that the
Arabic civilization learned of the Indian numeration system and the use of the symbol for
zero.

Brahmagupta worked on problems in astronomy, e.g., on eclipses, and on conjunctions of

the planets. In mathematics he worked on indeterminate Diophantine equations of the first
and second order, and in particular on the Pell equation x2 − Dy2 = 1, where D is a given
positive non-square number. This equation was named “Pell’s equation” by Euler in the
18th century, but Brahmagupta in the 7th century and Bhaskaracharya in the 12th century
had solved it completely; so Euler’s name is a historical error. Brahmagupta also found
some elegant theorems on the geometry of cyclic quadrilaterals.

Here are two excellent references for information on Brahmagupta:

• Wikipedia
• Univ of St. Andrews

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C OMMUNITY M ATH C ENTER , R ISHI VALLEY S CHOOL , R ISHI VALLEY 517 352, A NDHRA P RADESH ,
I NDIA

E-mail address: shailesh.shirali@gmail.com