Illustrated · 1 min

The Butterfly Theorem

Draw chords AB and CD through the midpoint M of a chord PQ in a circle. Let AD and BC intersect chord PQ at points X and Y respectively. Then, M is the midpoint of XY.

Proof

(credit to cut the knot)

First, let a=MP=MQa=MP=MQ and x=XMx=XM and y=YMy=YM. We drop perpendiculars from X and Y to AM, DM, and BM, CM, respectively. We call these perpendiculars XX1,XX2,YY1,XX_1, XX_2, YY_1, and YY2,YY_2, respectively, with lengths x1,x2,y1,y2x_1, x_2, y_1, y_2.

We see four pairs of similar triangles, and we get a ratio from each: MXX1∼MYY1MXX_1 \sim MYY_1 xy=x1y1\dfrac xy = \dfrac{x_1}{y_1} MXX2∼MYY2MXX_2 \sim MYY_2 xy=x2y2\dfrac xy = \dfrac{x_2}{y_2} AXX1∼CYY2AXX_1 \sim CYY_2 x1y2=AXCY\dfrac{x_1}{y_2} = \dfrac{AX}{CY} DXX2∼BYY1DXX_2 \sim BYY_1 x2y1=XDYB\dfrac{x_2}{y_1} = \dfrac{XD}{YB} Then, from the above expressions, we get: x2y2=x1y1⋅x2y2=x1y2⋅x2y1=AX⋅XDCY⋅YB\dfrac{x^2}{y^2} = \dfrac{x_1}{y_1} \cdot \dfrac{x_2}{y_2} = \dfrac{x_1}{y_2} \cdot \dfrac{x_2}{y_1} = \dfrac{AX \cdot XD}{CY \cdot YB} By power of a point, AX⋅XDCY⋅YB=PX⋅XQPY⋅YQ=(a−x)(a+x)(a−y)(a+y)=a2−x2a2−y2\dfrac{AX \cdot XD}{CY \cdot YB} = \dfrac{PX \cdot XQ}{PY \cdot YQ} = \dfrac{(a-x)(a+x)}{(a-y)(a+y)} = \dfrac{a^2 - x^2}{a^2 - y^2} So in the end, we have: x2y2=a2−x2a2−y2\dfrac{x^2}{y^2} = \dfrac{a^2 - x^2}{a^2 - y^2} Getting rid of denominators and expanding gives: a2x2−x2y2=a2y2−x2y2a^2x^2 - x^2y^2 = a^2y^2 - x^2y^2 a2x2=a2y2a^2x^2 = a^2y^2 x=yx = y So, this means that MM is the midpoint of XYXY, so we are done.

Type a concept, like “slope” or “photosynthesis”.

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