1

Rotated right triangle

Problem
Adapted from K.S. Barybin, Geometry Proof Problems, Moscow, 1952
Right triangle ABC was rotated some angle w around the right
angle vertex C to produce a new triangle, A

C. As a result
of this particular rotation, vertex B of the original triangle lies
on the hypotenuse A

of the new triangle. Leg CA

crosses
AB at the point D. Express the measures of

BDC and

w in
terms of the measure of

A (

BAC).
A
C
B D
A'
B'
w
Problems with a Point: March 2, 2001 c EDC 2001
Rotated right triangle: Hints 1
Hints
Find relations among the various angles in your sketch. Here
are some steps that may help.
1. Find all angles equal to

w.
2. Consider triangles ABC and A

C. What can you tell

about them? What relations between sides and between
angles follow from this observation?
3. Consider the sum of angles in B

CB.
4. What is the relation of

BDC to ACD?
Problems with a Point: March 2, 2001 c EDC 2001
Rotated right triangle: Answers 1
Answers

w = 2

x = 3

A
Problems with a Point: March 2, 2001 c EDC 2001
Rotated right triangle: Solutions 1
Solutions
The solution requires several steps and uses the idea of congru- Figures are called congruent if
you can place one on the other so
that all parts coincide. If gures
F and G are congruent, we write
F

= G. If gures are congruent,
their corresponding sides are
congruent (equal in length), and
their corresponding angles are
congruent (equal in measure).
ence. Below is one possible solution. Lets rst try to gure out
the relations between

w and

A. Lets consider all possible re-
lations between the angles in the triangles formed by the initial
and rotated gures.
1. Because ABC is rotated through

w around vertex C, the
angle between corresponding sides CA and CA

is

w, and
the angle between corresponding sides CB and CB

is

w.
2. Because A

C was obtained from ABC by rotation,

triangles ABC and A

C are congruent; you can place one

on the other, and all parts will coincide.
Because corresponding parts of congruent triangles are con- Isosceles Triangle Theorem:
If two sides of a triangle are
congruent then the angles
opposite those sides are
congruent.
gruent: CB

= CB

. Therefore, B

CB is isosceles. Be-
cause B

CB is isosceles,

BB

C

=

B

BC.
3. Now lets consider B

CA

. It is a right triangle with

CA

= 90
0
. Therefore,

CA

+

A

C = 90
0
. So,

C = 90
0

CA

.
4. Now, lets go back to congruent triangles ABC and A

C.
Because in congruent triangles corresponding angles are con-
gruent, we can establish the following relation:

CAB

=

CA

=

A. From the previous step,

A

C = 90
0

CA

B = 90
0

A, and

B

BC =

BB

C =

A

C =
90
0

A.
A
C
B
D
A'
B'
w
w
9
0
-
A
9
0
-
A
A A
x
Problems with a Point: March 2, 2001 c EDC 2001
Rotated right triangle: Solutions 2
5. We can write the sum of the angles in B

CB as Angle Sum Theorem for

Triangles: The sum of the
measures of the angles of a
triangle is 180
0
.

BC +

BB

C +

BCB

= 180
0
or
90
0

A + 90
0

A +

w = 180
0
.
Therefore, 180
0
+

w 2

A = 180
0
.
Therefore,

w = 2

A.
6. We want to nd

BDC, which is an exterior angle of ACD. The Exterior Angle
Theorem: The measure of an
exterior angle of a triangle is
equal to the sum of the measures
of its two remote interior angles.
Therefore, by the Exterior Angle Theorem,

BDC =

w +

A = 3

A.
Problems with a Point: March 2, 2001 c EDC 2001