Useful Identities and Inequalities in Geometry

1
Contributors in Posting Order
Samer Seraj (BigSams)
2
Andrew Kirk (WakeUp)
Reda Afare (Thalesmaster)
3
Luis Gonzalez (luisgeometra)
Constantin Mateescu (Mateescu Constantin)
Typesetting and Editing
Ercole Suppa
4
(Leon)
Samer Seraj (BigSams)
June 29, 2011
1 Regular Notation for a ABC
Let AB = c, BC = a, CA = b be the sides of ABC.
Let A = m(BAC), B = m(ABC), C = m(BCA) be measures of the angles of ABC.
Let be the area of ABC.
Let P be any point in ABC. Let the cevians through P and A, B, C intersect a, b, c at P
a
, P
b
,
P
c
respectively.
Let arbitrary cevians issued from A, B, C be d, e, f respectively.
Let the semiperimeter, inradius, and circumradius be s, r, R respectively.
Let the heights issued from A, B, C be h
a
, h
b
, h
c
respectively, which meet at the orthocenter H.
Let the feet of the perpendiculars from H to BC, CA, AB be H
a
, H
b
, H
c
respectively.
Let the medians issued from A, B, C be m
a
, m
b
, m
c
respectively, which meet at the centroid G.
Let the midpoints of A, B, C be M
a
, M
b
, M
c
respectively.
Let the internal angle bisectors issued from A, B, C be
a
,
b
,
c
respectively, which meet at the
incenter I, and intersect their corresponding opposite sides at L
a
, L
b
, L
c
respectively.
Let the feet of the perpendiculars from I to BC, CA, AB be I
a
, I
b
, I
c
respectively.
Let the centers of the excircles tangent to BC, CA, AB be O
a
, O
b
, O
c
respectively, and the excircles
be tangent to BC, CA, AB at E
a
, E
b
, E
c
.
Let the radii of the excircles tangent to BC, CA, AB be r
a
, r
b
, r
c
respectively.
Let N be the Nagel Point, and let be the Gergonne Point.
Important: CVH denotes that Cyclic Versions Hold
To refer to this document, especially on Mathlinks, call it IIG (Identities and Inequalities in Geometry)
1
The original thread: http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=412623/
2
Email: samer seraj@hotmail.com
3
Email: master 8701@hotmail.com
4
Email: ercolesuppa@gmail.com, Web: http://www.esuppa.it/
1
2 Trigonometric Identities for General Angles ,
Note: Any identity that is included for the regular functions, but not for the reciprocal functions, can be
converted to the latter by replacing the regulars by the reciprocals and some simple cross multiplication
and fraction manipulation.
1. Reciprocal Identities
(a) sin =
1
csc
(b) cos =
1
sec
(c) tan =
1
cot
2. Pythagorean Identities
(a) sin
2
+ cos
2
= 1
(b) tan
2
+ 1 = sec
2

(c) 1 + cot
2
= csc
2

3. Quotient Identities
(a) tan =
sin
cos
(b) cot =
cos
sin
4. Co-function Transformation Identities
(a) sin( + 90

) = cos
(b) tan( + 90

) = cot
(c) sec( + 90

) = csc
5. Reection Identities
(a) sin(180

) = sin
(b) cos(180

) = cos
(c) tan(180

) = tan
6. Period Identities (best constants obviously), n Z
(a) sin( + 360

n) = sin
(b) cos( + 360

n) = cos
(c) tan( + 180

n) = tan
2
7. Even-odd Identities
(a) sin() = sin()
(b) cos() = cos
(c) tan() = tan
8. Sum and Dierence Identities
(a) sin( ) = sin cos sin cos
(b) cos( ) = cos cos sin sin
(c) tan( ) =
tan tan
1 tan tan
9. Double Angle Identities
(a) sin 2 = 2 sin cos
(b) cos 2 = cos
2
sin
2
= 2 cos
2
1 = 1 2 sin
2

(c) tan 2 =
2 tan
1 tan
2

10. Half-angle Identities

(a) sin
2

2
=
1 cos
2
(b) cos
2

2
=
1 + cos
2
(c) tan

2
=
sin
1 + cos
=
1 cos
sin
11. Product-to-Sum Identities
(a) 2 sin sin = cos( ) cos( +)
(b) 2 cos cos = cos( +) + cos( )
(c) 2 sin cos = sin( +) + sin( )
12. Sum-to-Product Identities
(a) cos + cos = 2 cos

+
2

cos

(b) cos cos = 2 sin

+
2

sin

(c) sin + sin = 2 sin

+
2

cos

(d) sin sin = 2 sin

cos

+
2

3
3 Identities in ABC
1. Laws of the Triangle
(a)
a
sin A
= 2R, CVH (Law of Sines)
(b) cos A =
b
2
+c
2
a
2
2bc
, CVH (Law of Cosines)
(c)
a b
a +b
=
tan
AB
2
tan
A+B
2
, CVH (Law of Tangents)
2. Area of a Triangle
(a) =
ah
a
2
, CVH
(b) =
ab sin C
2
, CVH
(c) = sr
(d) =
abc
4R
(e) =

s(s a)(s b)(s c) (Herons Theorem)

(f) =

rr
a
r
b
r
c
(g)
2
=
2
9

m
2
a
m
2
b

1
9

m
4
a
(h)
1

2
=

1
h
a

1
h
a
+
1
h
b
+
1
h
c

(i)
2
R
2
=

sin 2A = 4

sin A
(j) =
1
4

a
2
cot A = r
2

cot
A
2
3. If AL is the angle bisector of A we have
BL
LC
=
AB
AC
, CVH. (Angle Bisector Theorem)
4. Following regular notation,
AP
c
P
c
B

BP
a
P
a
C

CP
b
P
b
A
= 1. (Cevas Theorem)
5. If AD = d is a cevian, BD = m, and DC = n b
2
m + c
2
n = a(d
2
+ mn), CVH. (Stewarts
Theorem)
6. Common Cevians in terms of a, b, c
(a) h
a
=
2
a
=
2

s(s a)(s b)(s c)

a
, CVH
(b) m
a
=

2b
2
+ 2c
2
a
2
2
(Apolloniuss Theorem), CVH
4
(c)
a
=

bc

a
b +c

, CVH
7. Common Radii in terms of a, b, c
(a) r =

s
=

(s a)(s b)(s c)
s
(b) R =
abc
4
=
abc
4

s(s a)(s b)(s c)

(c) r
a
=

s a
=

s(s b)(s c)
s a
, CVH
8. Briggss Formulas
(b) sin
A
2
=

(s b)(s c)
bc
, CVH
(a) cos
A
2
=

s(s a)
bc
, CVH
(c) tan
A
2
=

(s b)(s c)
s(s a)
=
r
s a
=
r
a
s
, CVH
9. Mollweides formulas
(a) sin
AB
2
=
a b
c
cos
C
2
, CVH
(b) cos
AB
2
=
a +b
c
sin
C
2
, CVH
10. cos A =
1
bc
(s(s a) (s b)(s c)), CVH
11. a = c cos B +b cos C, CVH (Projections Theorem)
12. a cos(B C) = b cos B +c cos C, CVH
13. tan
A
2
tan
B
2
=
s c
s
=
r
2
(s a)(s b)
, CVH
14. AG : GM
a
= 2 : 1, CVH
15. Distance from Vertex to Remarkable Points
(a) AO = R, CVH
5
(b) AH = 2Rcos A, CVH
(c) AI = r csc
A
2
=

bc(s a)
s
, CVH
(d) AG =
2
3
m
a
=

2b
2
+ 2c
2
a
2
3
, CVH
16. H
a
H
b
= Rsin 2A, CVH
17. HH
a
= 2Rcos Bcos C, CVH
18. Distances Between Remarkable Points
(a) OI
2
= R(R 2r)
(b) OH
2
= 9R
2
2(s
2
r
2
4Rr)
(c) OG
2
= R
2

2
9
(s
2
r
2
4Rr)
(d) OH = 3OG (Eulers Formula)
(e) ON = R 2r
(f) IG
2
=
1
9
(s
2
+ 5r
2
16Rr)
(g) IH
2
= 4R
2
+ 4Rr + 3r
2
s
2
(h) H
2
= 4R
2

1
2s
2
(2R r)
R(4R +r)
2

(i) IN
2
= 9 IG
2
= s
2
+ 5r
2
16Rr
19. tan
2

45

A
2

=
2R a
2R +a
, CVH
20. cos
B C
2
=
s
2R
sec
A
2
sin
A
2
, CVH
21. For any point X in the plane of ABC:
(a)

a XA
2
= (a +b +c) XI
2
+abc
(b) 3

XA
2
= 9 XG
2
+ (a
2
+b
2
+c
2
)
4 Symmetric Sums in ABC
1. (a)

a = 2s
(b)

ab = s
2
+r
2
+ 4rR
(c)

a = 4Rrs
6
2. Lower Powers of

a
n
(a)

a
2
= 2(s
2
r
2
4Rr)
(b)

a
3
= 2(s
3
3r
2
s 6Rrs)
(c)

a
4
= 2(s
4
6r
2
s
2
8s
2
Rr + 8Rr
3
+ 16R
2
r
2
+r
4
)
3. (a)

r
a
= 4R +r
(b)

r
a
r
b
= s
2
(c)

r
a
= s
2
r
(d)

1
r
a
=
1
r
4. (a)

sin A =
s
R
(b)

sin A sin B =
s
2
+r
2
+ 4rR
4R
2
(c)

sin A =
sr
2R
2
5. (a)

cos A =
r
R
+ 1
(b)

cos A cos B =
s
2
+r
2
4R
2
1
(c)

cos A =
s
2
r
2
4Rr
4R
2
1 =
s
2
(2R +r)
2
4R
2
From (c), it follows that:
(a) ABC is acute-angled s 2R +r
(b) ABC is obtuse-angled s 2R +r
(c) ABC is right-angled s = 2R +r
6. (a)

tan A =
2sr
s
2
(2R +r)
2
(b)

tan A tan B = 1 +
4R
2
s
2
(2R +r)
2
(c)

tan A =
2sr
s
2
(2R +r)
2
7.

sin
A
2
=
r
4R
7
8.

cos
A
2
=
s
4R
9. (a)

tan
A
2
=

r
a
s
=
4R +r
s
(b)

tan
A
2
tan
B
2
= 1
(c)

tan
A
2
=
r
s
Note: The other symmetric sums of the trigonometric functions of the half-angles are suciently
ugly to be useless on olympiads, or anywhere else. Additionally, the symmetric sums of the trigono-
metric functions of double-angles are also quite ugly, though tame in comparison to the half-angles.
So neither set is included.
10. (a)

sin
2
A
2
= 1
r
2R
(b)

sin
2
A
2
sin
2
B
2
=
s
2
+r
2
8Rr
16R
2
(c)

sin
2
A
2
=

r
4R

2
11. (a)

cos
2
A
2
= 2 +
r
2R
(b)

cos
2
A
2
cos
2
B
2
= 1 +
s
2
+r
2
+ 8Rr
16R
2
(c)

cos
2
A
2
=

s
4R

2
12. (a)

tan
2
A
2
=

4R +r
s

2
2
(b)

tan
2
A
2
tan
2
B
2
= 1
2r
2
+ 8Rr
s
2
(c)

tan
2
A
2
=

r
s

2
13.

sin(A+B) =
s
R
14.

cos(AB) =
s
2
+r
2
+ 2Rr
2R
2
1
15.

cos
B C
2
=
s
2
+r
2
+ 2Rr
8R
2
8
16.

a tan
A
2
= 2(2R r)
17.

cos
AB
2
= 2

sin
A
2
sin
B
2
+

sin
A
2
18. (a)

tan
A
4
=
AI +BI +CI s
r
(b)

cot
A
4
=
AI +BI +CI +s
r
Note: The following is reasoning for not including symmetric sums of the reciprocal trigonometric
functions csc A, sec A, cot A:
Let {x, y, z, p, q, r} R such that:

p +q +r = x
pq +qr +rp = y
pqr = z
=

1
p
+
1
q
+
1
r
=
y
z
1
pq
+
1
qr
+
1
rp
=
x
z
1
pqr
=
1
z
Thus, it is a trivial task to convert symmetric sums of sin A, cos A, tan A into symmetric sums of
csc A, sec A, cot A respectively.
19.

a IA
2
= abc = 4Rrs
20.

IA
2
= s
2
+r
2
8Rr
21.

GA
2
=
2
3
(s
2
r
2
4Rr)
22.

tan A AH
2
= 4sr
5 Other Identities
1. In a cyclic quadrilateral ABCD, A+C = B +D = 180

.
2. For a cyclic quadrilateral ABCD with sides a, b, c, d, [ABCD] =

(s a)(s b)(s c)(s d)

(Brahmaguptas Formula)
(It produces Herons Formula as d 0).
3. In any quadrilateral ABCD with sides a, b, c, d and opposite angles A, C we have [ABCD] =

(s a)(s b)(s c)(s d) abcd cos

2

A+C
2

(Bretschneiders Formula)
(It produces Brahmaguptas Formula when ABCD is cyclic)
9
4. (a) For any n-sided polygon, the sum of the interior angles is 180

(n 2).
(b) For any regular n-sided polygon, each interior angle is
180

(n 2)
n
.
(c) For any convex polygon, the sum of the exterior angles is 360

.
5. (a) For any regular n-sided polygon with side length s, the inradius is r
n
=
s cot
180

n
2
.
(b) For any regular n-sided polygon with side length s, the circumradius is R
n
=
s csc
180

n
2
.
6 Geometric Inequalities
1. b + c a, CVH, with equality holding if and only if C = 180

, or in other words the triangle is

degenerate as the segment a. As such, the > symbol is more popular. (Triangle Inequality)
2. Let there be an n-sided polygon with side lengths represented by the sequence {a
i
}, 1 1 = i
n, i N. Let
n

i=1
a
i
= p. Then it holds that a
i
p a
i
for each i. Equality holds if and only if the
polygon is degenerate as the segment a
i
so, the > symbol is more popular. (Polygon Inequality)
This is produces the Triangle Inequality when n = 3.
3. R 2r (Eulers Inequality)
4. 27r
2
s
2

27R
2
4
(Mitrinovics Inequality)
This is quite weak, but an easy problem can regularly be reduced to it.
5. (2R
2
+ 10Rr r
2
) 2(R 2r)

R(R 2r) s
2
(2R
2
+ 10Rr r
2
) + 2(R 2r)

R(R 2r)
(Blundons Inequality)
Blundon is the strongest inequality of the form f(R, r) s
2
F(R, r), where f(R, r), f(R, r) are
functions of R, r, that is still algebraically un-complicated enough to prove aesthetically pleasing
results.
6. 16Rr 5r
2
s
2
4R
2
+ 4Rr + 3r
2
(Gerretsens Inequality)
Though it is weaker than Blundon, its simple form allows it to be used much more exibly, and is a
more popular tool in olympiads. Additionally, it is the strongest inequality of the form mRrnr
2

s
2
xR
2
+yRr +zr
2
where {m, n, x, y, z} R.
7.
2r(2R r)(4R +r)
R
s
2

R(4R +r)
2
2(2R r)
This unnamed inequality is weaker than Blundon, but stronger than Gerretsen. It may not be
allowed to be quoted without proof at a competition.
10
8. 3r(4R +r)
27Rr
2
s
2

2R +

3 4

(4R +r)
2
3
Note that this chain is stronger than (3), but weaker than (5),(6),(7). It is included to inform of
some inequalities that a problem may be reduced to, but these should not be used as lemmata.
Ocial competitions likely do not condone their use without proof (which are simple).
9. For a non-obtuse triangle, s
2
2R
2
+ 8Rr + 3r
2
(Walkers Inequality)
Equality holds if and only if the triangle is equilateral or right-isosceles.
10. Let a , b , c be the side-lengths of a triangle with area f, and A , B , C be the side-lengths of a
triangle with area F. Then

A
2
(b
2
+c
2
a
2
) 16Ff. (Pedoes Inequality)
11. For a quadrilateral ABCD, AC BD AB CD+BC AD. Equality occurs if and only if ABCD
is cyclic. (Ptolemys Theorem)
11