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Excircle

From AoPSWiki

An excircle is a circle tangent to the extensions of two sides of a triangle and the third side.

defaultpen(fontsize(8));pair excenter(pair X, pair Y, pair Z){pair A, C;A=X+expi((angle(X-Y)+angle(Z-X))/2);C=Z+expi((angle(Z...

Triangle \triangle ABC and its excircles.

Contents

Properties

For any triangle, there are three unique excircles. This follows from the fact that there is one, if any, circle such that three given distinct lines are tangent to it.

Related Geometrical Objects

  • An exradius is a radius of an excircle of a triangle.
  • An excenter is the center of an excircle of a triangle.

Related Formulas

If the circle is tangent to side a of the circle, the radius is \frac{K}{s-a}, where K is the triangle's area, and s = \frac{a+b+c}{2} is the semiperimeter.

Problems

Introductory

  • Let E,F be the feet of the perpendiculars from the vertices B,C of triangle \triangle ABC. Let O be the circumcenter \triangle ABC. Prove that OA \perp FE .

( Source)

Intermediate

  • In triangle ABC, let the A-excircle touch BC at D. Let the B-excircle of triangle ABD touch AD at P and let the C-excircle of triangle ACD touch AD at Q. Is \angle P\cong\angle Q true for all triangles ABC? ( Source)

Olympiad

  • Let ABC be a triangle and let \omega be its incircle. Denote by D_1 and E_1 the points where \omega is tangent to sides BC and AC, respectively. Denote by D_2 and E_2 the points on sides BC and AC, respectively, such that CD_2 = BD_1 and CE_2 = AE_1, and denote by P the point of intersection of segments AD_2 and BE_2. Circle \omega intersects segment AD_2 at two points, the closer of which to the vertex A is denoted by Q. Prove that AQ = D_2P. (Source)
  • Let ABC be a triangle with circumcircle \omega. Point D lies on side BC such that \angle BAD = \angle CAD. Let I_{A} denote the excenter of triangle ABC opposite A, and let \omega_{A} denote the circle with AI_{A} as its diameter. Circles \omega and \omega_{A} meet at P other than A. The circumcle of triangle APD meet line BC again at Q\, (other than D). Prove that Q lies on the excircle of triangle ABC opposite A. (Source: Problem 13.2 - MOSP 2007)
  • Let ABCD be a parallelogram. A variable line \ell passing through the point A intersects the rays BC and DC at points X and Y, respectively. Let K and L be the centres of the excircles of triangles ABX and ADY, touching the sides BX and DY, respectively. Prove that the size of angle KCL does not depend on the choice of \ell. (Source)

See also

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