Triangle

A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called vertices, are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called edges, are one-dimensional line segments. A triangle has three internal angles, each one bounded by a pair of adjacent edges; the sum of angles of a triangle always equals a straight angle (180 degrees or π radians). The triangle is a plane figure and its interior is a planar region. Sometimes an arbitrary edge is chosen to be the base, in which case the opposite vertex is called the apex; the shortest segment between the base and apex is the height. The area of a triangle equals one-half the product of height and base length.

In Euclidean geometry, any two points determine a unique line segment situated within a unique straight line, and any three points that do not all lie on the same straight line determine a unique triangle situated within a unique flat plane. More generally, four points in three-dimensional Euclidean space determine a solid figure called tetrahedron.

In non-Euclidean geometries, three "straight" segments also determine a "triangle", for instance, a spherical triangle or hyperbolic triangle. A geodesic triangle is a region of a general two-dimensional surface enclosed by three sides that are straight relative to the surface (geodesics). A curvilinear triangle is a shape with three curved sides, for instance, a circular triangle with circular-arc sides. (This article is about straight-sided triangles in Euclidean geometry, except where otherwise noted.)

Triangles are classified into different types based on their angles and the lengths of their sides. Relations between angles and side lengths are a major focus of trigonometry. In particular, the sine, cosine, and tangent functions relate side lengths and angles in right triangles.

Definition, terminology, and types

A triangle is a figure consisting of three line segments, each of whose endpoints are connected. These line segments are called the sides, and the endpoints or corners are called the edges. Hence, this forms a polygon with three sides and three angles. The terminology for categorizing triangles is more than two thousand years old, having been defined in Book One of Euclid's Elements. The names used for modern classification are either a direct transliteration of Euclid's Greek or their Latin translations.

Triangles have many types based on the length of the sides and the angles. A triangle whose sides are all the same length is an equilateral triangle, a triangle with two sides having the same length is an isosceles triangle, and a triangle with three different-length sides is a scalene triangle. A triangle in which one of the angles is a right angle is a right triangle, a triangle in which all of its angles are less than that angle is an acute triangle, and a triangle in which one of it angles is greater than that angle is an obtuse triangle. These definitions date back at least to Euclid.

Appearances

All types of triangles are commonly found in real life. In man-made construction, the isosceles triangles may be found in the shape of gables and pediments, and the equilateral triangle can be found in the yield sign. The faces of the Great Pyramid of Giza are sometimes considered to be equilateral, but more accurate measurements show they are isosceles instead. Other appearances are in heraldic symbols as in the flag of Saint Lucia and flag of the Philippines.

Triangles also appear in three-dimensional objects. A polyhedron is a solid whose boundary is covered by flat polygonals known as the faces, sharp corners known as the vertices, and line segments known as the edges. Polyhedra in some cases can be classified, judging from the shape of their faces. For example, when polyhedra have all equilateral triangles as their faces, they are known as deltahedra. Antiprisms have alternating triangles on their sides. Pyramids and bipyramids are polyhedra with polygonal bases and triangles for lateral faces; the triangles are isosceles whenever they are right pyramids and bipyramids. The Kleetope of a polyhedron is a new polyhedron made by replacing each face of the original with a pyramid, and so the faces of a Kleetope will be triangles. More generally, triangles can be found in higher dimensions, as in the generalized notion of triangles known as the simplex, and the polytopes with triangular facets known as the simplicial polytopes.

Properties

Points, lines, and circles associated with a triangle

Each triangle has many special points inside it, on its edges, or otherwise associated with it. They are constructed by finding three lines associated symmetrically with the three sides (or vertices) and then proving that the three lines meet in a single point. An important tool for proving the existence of these points is Ceva's theorem, which gives a criterion for determining when three such lines are concurrent. Similarly, lines associated with a triangle are often constructed by proving that three symmetrically constructed points are collinear; here Menelaus' theorem gives a useful general criterion. In this section, just a few of the most commonly encountered constructions are explained.

A perpendicular bisector of a side of a triangle is a straight line passing through the midpoint of the side and being perpendicular to it, forming a right angle with it. The three perpendicular bisectors meet in a single point, the triangle's circumcenter; this point is the center of the circumcircle, the circle passing through all three vertices. Thales' theorem implies that if the circumcenter is located on the side of the triangle, then the angle opposite that side is a right angle. If the circumcenter is located inside the triangle, then the triangle is acute; if the circumcenter is located outside the triangle, then the triangle is obtuse.

An altitude of a triangle is a straight line through a vertex and perpendicular to the opposite side. This opposite side is called the base of the altitude, and the point where the altitude intersects the base (or its extension) is called the foot of the altitude. The length of the altitude is the distance between the base and the vertex. The three altitudes intersect in a single point, called the orthocenter of the triangle. The orthocenter lies inside the triangle if and only if the triangle is acute.

An angle bisector of a triangle is a straight line through a vertex that cuts the corresponding angle in half. The three angle bisectors intersect in a single point, the incenter, which is the center of the triangle's incircle. The incircle is the largest circle that lies inside the triangle; it touches all three sides. Its radius is called the inradius. There are three other important circles, the excircles; they lie outside the triangle and touch one side, as well as the extensions of the other two. The centers of the incircles and excircles form an orthocentric system. The midpoints of the three sides and the feet of the three altitudes all lie on a single circle, the triangle's nine-point circle. The remaining three points for which it is named are the midpoints of the portion of altitude between the vertices and the orthocenter. The radius of the nine-point circle is half that of the circumcircle. It touches the incircle (at the Feuerbach point) and the three excircles. The orthocenter (blue point), the center of the nine-point circle (red), the centroid (orange), and the circumcenter (green) all lie on a single line, known as Euler's line (red line). The center of the nine-point circle lies at the midpoint between the orthocenter and the circumcenter, and the distance between the centroid and the circumcenter is half that between the centroid and the orthocenter. Generally, the incircle's center is not located on Euler's line.

A median of a triangle is a straight line through a vertex and the midpoint of the opposite side, and divides the triangle into two equal areas. The three medians intersect in a single point, the triangle's centroid or geometric barycenter. The centroid of a rigid triangular object (cut out of a thin sheet of uniform density) is also its center of mass: the object can be balanced on its centroid in a uniform gravitational field. The centroid cuts every median in the ratio 2:1, i.e. the distance between a vertex and the centroid is twice the distance between the centroid and the midpoint of the opposite side. If one reflects a median in the angle bisector that passes through the same vertex, one obtains a symmedian. The three symmedians intersect in a single point, the symmedian point of the triangle.