Construct the circumcentre of the triangle XYZ shown below, using only a compass and straight edge - Leaving Cert Mathematics - Question 6 - 2022
Question 6
Construct the circumcentre of the triangle XYZ shown below, using only a compass and straight edge. Label the circumcentre C. Show your construction lines clearly.
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Worked Solution & Example Answer:Construct the circumcentre of the triangle XYZ shown below, using only a compass and straight edge - Leaving Cert Mathematics - Question 6 - 2022
Step 1
Construct the circumcentre of the triangle XYZ
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Answer
Begin by drawing the triangle XYZ on your paper.
Use the compass to construct the perpendicular bisector of segment XY.
To do this, place the compass point on point X and draw an arc above and below the line.
Without changing the compass width, place the compass point on point Y and draw two arcs, intersecting the first two arcs.
Label the intersection points of the arcs as points P and Q.
Draw a straight line through points P and Q. This will be the perpendicular bisector of XY.
Repeat steps 2 to 4 for segment XZ to find its perpendicular bisector, and label its intersection points as R and S.
The point where the two perpendicular bisectors intersect is the circumcentre C of triangle XYZ.
Step 2
Find |ADC|.
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Answer
To find
|ADC|:
Note that since [AB] is the diameter,
|ADB| = 90° (angles in a semi-circle).
Since triangle ADB is isosceles, we have:
|BAD| = |ABD|.
Given that |DAC| = 40°, we can set up the equation:
|ADC| = 90° - |BAD|.
Since |BAD| and |ABD| are equal, we can denote |BAD| = x.
The equation becomes:
x+40°+x=90°.
Simplifying gives:
2x+40°=90°.
Thus,
2x=50° → x=25°.
Therefore,
|ADC| = 90° - 25° = 65°.
Step 3
Prove that O cannot be inside the triangle PQR.
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Answer
Assume that O is inside the triangle PQR.
The angle at the centre I, ∠[P O Q], must be twice the angle at point R: |PQR|, hence:
∠[POQ] must be > 180°.
However, since we know that the angle at R is greater than 90°, it follows that: |PQR| must also be greater than 90°.
This leads to a contradiction, as the circumcentre O cannot exist within the triangle when the angle exceeds 90°.
Therefore, it must be concluded that O cannot be inside triangle PQR.
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