Intercepted Arc

From Latin: intercipere "take or seize between"

Definition: That part of a circle that lies between two lines that intersect it.
Try this Drag one of the orange dots that control the angle AOB. The dotted red arc is the arc intercepted by that angle. (If there is no image below, see support page.)

When two straight lines cross a circle, the part of the circle between the intersection points is called the intercepted arc. The lines intercept, or 'cut off', the arc.

Usually the two lines are the arms of an angle, as in the figure above, but this is not always the case. For example, in the figure at right, two secant lines cut off, or intercept, two arcs, AB and CD.

An intercepted arc is the arc that is formed when segments intersect portions of a circle and create arcs.These segments in effect 'intercept' parts of the circle. The picture below shows examples of intercepted arcs.
Note: The examples below use chords to create the intercepted arc. However, tangents, tangents, secants can also create intercepted arcs.

Definition: Given two points on a circle, the minor arc is the shortest arc linking them. The major arc is the longest.

Major and Minor Arcs

Definition: Given two points on a circle, the minor arc is the shortest arc linking them. The major arc is the longest.
Try this Drag one of the orange dots. Note how the points define both a major and minor arc. (If there is no image below, see support page.) Two points lying on a circle actually define two arcs. The shortest is called the 'minor arc' the longer one is called the 'major arc'. In the figure above, if you were to refer to the 'arc AB' you could mean either one. Typically, if you don't specify which, readers will assume you mean the minor (shortest) arc. If there is a possibility of confusion, you should state which one you mean. Another way to avoid confusion is to have another point on the arc and use all three to define it. For example 'arc AQB', would not be in doubt since the point Q would lie on only on one of the two possible arcs. When the major and minor arcs are the same length, they divide the circle into two semicircular arcs. See Semicircle definition. Under these circumstances neither arc is considered to be the major or minor arc.

Arcs
An arc is a curved line along the circumference of a circle.

Arc Length
An arc is a part of a circles circumference. An arc contains two endpoints and all the points on the circle between the endpoints. By picking any two points on a circle, two arcs are created: a major arc, which is by definition the longer arc, and a minor arc, the shorter one.

Since the degree of an arc is defined by the central or inscribed angle that intercepts the arcs endpoints, you can calculate the arc length as long as you know the circles radius and the measure of either the central or inscribed angle. The arc length formula is

where n is the measure of the degree of the arc, and r is the radius.

Central Angle

A central angle is an angle

with endpoints

and

located on a circle's circumference and vertex .

located at the circle's center (Rhoad et al. 1984, p. 420). A central angle in a circle determines an arc

Central Angle
From Latin: centrum- "center"

Definition: The angle subtended at the center of a circle by two given points on the circle
Given two points A and B, lines from them to center of the circle form the central angle AOB. The central angle is the smaller of the two at the center. It does not mean the reflex angle AOB. As you drag the points above, the angle will change to reflect this as it increases through 180

1. Central Angle:
A central angle is an angle formed by two intersecting radii such that its vertex is at the center of the circle.

Central Angle = Intercepted Arc

<AOB is a central angle. Its intercepted arc is the minor arc from A to B. m<AOB = 80

Major Arc

A major arc (right figure) is an arc of a circle having measure greater than or equal to

( radians).

Minor Arc

A minor arc (left figure) is an arc of a circle having measure less than or equal to

( radians).

An arc is a portion of the circumference of a circle. In the figure above, the arc is the blue part of the circle. Strictly speaking, an arc could be a portion of some other curved shape, such as an ellipse, but it almost always refers to a circle. To avoid all possible mistake, it is sometimes called a circular arc. A straight line is drawn between the end points of the arc would be a chord of the circle. If the arc length is exactly half the circle, this called a semicircular arc. The angle subtended by the arc to the center of the circle of which it is a part. This angle is always twice the peripheral angle (see below). See Central Angle of an Arc for more. The angle subtended by the arc to any point on the circumference of the circle of which it is a part. This angle is always half the central angle (see above).

Inscribed Angle
From Latin: in "inside" + scribere "to write"

Definition: The angle subtended at a point on the circle by two given points on the circle.

Definitions
1 - A central angle of a circle is an angle whose vertex is located at the center of the circle. Angle BOC in the figure below. 2 - An inscribed angle is an angle whose vertex is on a circle and whose sides each intersect the circle at another point. Angle CAB in the figure below.

Theorem
1 - An inscribed angle is half the measure of the central angle intercepting the same arc. angle BAC = (1 / 2) angle BOC angle BDC = (1 / 2) angle BOC 2 - Two or more inscribed angles intercepting the same arc are equal. angle BAC = angle BDC

Theorem: The central angle subtended by two points on a circle is twice the inscribed angle subtended by those points. Definition: Given two points on a circle, the minor arc is the shortest arc linking them. The major arc is the longest.
Two points lying on a circle actually define two arcs. The shortest is called the 'minor arc' the longer one is called the 'major arc'. In the figure above, if you were to refer to the 'arc AB' you could mean either one. Typically, if you don't specify which, readers will assume you mean the minor (shortest) arc. If there is a possibility of confusion, you should state which one you mean. Another way to avoid confusion is to have another point on the arc and use all three to define it. For example 'arc AQB', would not be in doubt since the point Q would lie on only on one of the two possible arcs. When the major and minor arcs are the same length, they divide the circle into two semicircular arcs. See Semicircle definition. Under these circumstances neither arc is considered to be the major or minor arc.

An Inscribed Angle's

vertex lies somewhere on the circle sides are chords from the vertex to another point in the circle creates an arc , called an intercepted arc The measure of the inscribed angle is half of measure of the intercepted arc (This only works for the most frequently studeied case
when the vetex point such as B is not within arc AC.)

Look at the picture on the left

ABC is the inscribed angle BC and AC are the chords

is the intercepted arc

ABC =

Cyclic Quadrilateral

A cyclic quadrilateral is a quadrilateral for which a circle can be circumscribed so that it touches each polygon vertex. A quadrilateral inscribed and circumscribed on some pair of circles is known as a bicentric quadrilateral.

The area of a cyclic quadrilateral is the maximum possible for any quadrilateral with the given side lengths. The opposite angles of a

sum to radians (Euclid, Book III, Proposition 22; Heath 1956; Dunham 1990, p. 121). There exists a closed billiards path inside a cy circumcenter lies inside the quadrilateral (Wells 1991, p. 11).

The area is then given by a special case of Bretschneider's formula. Let the sides have lengths , , , and , let be the semiperime

and let

be the circumradius. Then

the first of which is known as Brahmagupta's formula. Solving for the circumradius in (2) and (3) gives

The diagonals of a cyclic quadrilateral have lengths

so that

In general, there are three essentially distinct cyclic quadrilaterals (modulo rotation and reflection) whose edges are permutations of the lengths , , , and . Of the six corresponding polygon diagonals lengths, three are distinct. In addition to and , there is therefore a "third" polygon diagonal which can be denoted . It is given by the equation

This allows the area formula to be written in the particularly beautiful and simple form

In geometry, a cyclic quadrilateral is a quadrilateral whose vertices all lie on a single circle. The vertices are said to be concyclic. In a cyclic quadrilateral, opposite angles are supplementary (their sum is radians or 180). Equivalently, each exterior angle is equal to the opposite interior angle. The area of a cyclic quadrilateral is given by Brahmagupta's formula as long as the sides are given. This area is maximal among all quadrilaterals having the same side lengths. Ptolemy's theorem expresses the product of the lengths of the two diagonals of a cyclic quadrilateral as equal to the sum of the products of opposite sides. In any convex quadrilateral, the two diagonals together partition the quadrilateral into four triangles; in a cyclic quadrilateral, opposite pairs of these four triangles are similar to each other.

Any square, rectangle, or isosceles trapezoid is cyclic. A kite is cyclic if and only if it has two right angles.

A cyclic quadrilateral is a quadrilateral that can be inscribed in a circle. They have a number of interesting properties.

Properties
In cyclic quadrilateral

Ptolemy's Theorem gives a relationship between the side lengths and the diagonals of a cyclic quadrilateral; it is the equality case of the Ptolemy Inequality. Ptolemy's Theorem frequently shows up as an intermediate step in problems involving inscribed figures Given a cyclic quadrilateral diagonals : . with side lengths and

Proof
Given cyclic quadrilateral extend to such that so .

Since quadrilateral is cyclic, However, is also supplementary to Hence, by AA similarity and

Now, note that This yields However,

(subtend the same arc) and so

Substituting in our expressions for Multiplying by . yields

and

Brahmagupta's Formula is a formula for determining the area of a cyclic quadrilateral given only the four side lengths.

Definition
Given a cyclic quadrilateral with side lengths , , , , the area can be found as:

where

is the semiperimeter of the quadrilateral.

Brahmagupta's formula reduces to Heron's formula by setting the side length .