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In geometry, Thales's theorem states that if A, B, and C are distinct points on a circle where the line AC is a diameter, the angle ∠ ABC is a right angle. Thales's theorem is a special case of the inscribed angle theorem and is mentioned and proved as part of the 31st proposition in the third book of Euclid 's Elements . [ 1 ]
Similarly, the existence of at least one triangle with angle sum of less than 180 degrees implies the characteristic postulate of hyperbolic geometry. [3] One proof of the Saccheri–Legendre theorem uses the Archimedean axiom, in the form that repeatedly halving one of two given angles will eventually produce an angle sharper than the second ...
Proof without words using the inscribed angle theorem that opposite angles of a cyclic quadrilateral are supplementary: 2𝜃 + 2𝜙 = 360° ∴ 𝜃 + 𝜙 = 180° The inscribed angle theorem is used in many proofs of elementary Euclidean geometry of the plane.
A direct proof using classical geometry was developed by James Mercer in 1923. [2] This solution involves drawing one additional line, and then making repeated use of the fact that the internal angles of a triangle add up to 180° to prove that several triangles drawn within the large triangle are all isosceles.
(The alternate interior angle theorem states that if lines a and b are cut by a transversal t such that there is a pair of congruent alternate interior angles, then a and b are parallel.) The foregoing construction, and the alternate interior angle theorem, do not depend on the parallel postulate and are therefore valid in absolute geometry. [7]
Historically, the fourth angle of a Lambert quadrilateral was of considerable interest since if it could be shown to be a right angle, then the Euclidean parallel postulate could be proved as a theorem. It is now known that the type of the fourth angle depends upon the geometry in which the quadrilateral exists.
The various attempted proofs of the parallel postulate produced a long list of theorems that are equivalent to the parallel postulate. Equivalence here means that in the presence of the other axioms of the geometry each of these theorems can be assumed to be true and the parallel postulate can be proved from this altered set of axioms.
Saccheri quadrilaterals. A Saccheri quadrilateral is a quadrilateral with two equal sides perpendicular to the base.It is named after Giovanni Gerolamo Saccheri, who used it extensively in his 1733 book Euclides ab omni naevo vindicatus (Euclid freed of every flaw), an attempt to prove the parallel postulate using the method reductio ad absurdum.