Interior angles of an inscribed quadrilateral (original) (raw)
Definition: Opposite pairs of interior angles of an inscribed (cyclic) quadrilateral are supplementary (add to 180 °).
Try this Drag any orange dot. Note how the red and blue pairs of angles are supplementary.
Recall that an inscribed (or 'cyclic') quadrilateral is one where the four vertices all lie on a circle. It turns out that the interior angles of such a figure have a special relationship. Each pair of opposite interior angles are supplementary- that is, they always add up to 180°.
In the figure above, drag any vertex around the circle. Note how the blue and red pairs of angles always add to 180°.
'Crossed' polygons
In the figure above, if you drag a point past its neighbor the quadrilateral will become 'crossed' where one side crossed over another. In such 'crossed' quadrilaterals the interior angle property no longer holds. (Most properties of polygons are invalid when the polygon is crossed). The angles instead become congruent (equal in measure).
Things to try
In the figure above
- Click on 'Hide details'.
- Drag the vertices around to create a new (uncrossed) quadrilateral.
- Calculate the measures of the two missing angles.
- Click "show details" to check your answer.
Other polygon topics
General
- Polygon general definition
- Quadrilateral
- Regular polygon
- Irregular polygon
- Convex polygons
- Concave polygons
- Polygon diagonals
- Polygon triangles
- Apothem of a regular polygon
- Polygon center
- Radius of a regular polygon
- Incircle of a regular polygon
- Incenter of a regular polygon
- Circumcircle of a polygon
- Parallelogram inscribed in a quadrilateral
Types of polygon
- Square
- Diagonals of a square
- Rectangle
- Diagonals of a rectangle
- Golden rectangle
- Parallelogram
- Rhombus
- Trapezoid
- Trapezoid median
- Kite
- Inscribed (cyclic) quadrilateral
Area of various polygon types
- Regular polygon area
- Irregular polygon area
- Rhombus area
- Kite area
- Rectangle area
- Area of a square
- Trapezoid area
- Parallelogram area
Perimeter of various polygon types
- Perimeter of a polygon (regular and irregular)
- Perimeter of a triangle
- Perimeter of a rectangle
- Perimeter of a square
- Perimeter of a parallelogram
- Perimeter of a rhombus
- Perimeter of a trapezoid
- Perimeter of a kite
Angles associated with polygons
- Exterior angles of a polygon
- Interior angles of a polygon
- Relationship of interior/exterior angles
- Polygon central angle
Named polygons
- Tetragon, 4 sides
- Pentagon, 5 sides
- Hexagon, 6 sides
- Heptagon, 7 sides
- Octagon, 8 sides
- Nonagon Enneagon, 9 sides
- Decagon, 10 sides
- Undecagon, 11 sides
- Dodecagon, 12 sides
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