# Difference between revisions of "Ptolemy's Theorem"

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.

## Contents

### Definition

Given a cyclic quadrilateral $ABCD$ with side lengths ${a},{b},{c},{d}$ and diagonals ${e},{f}$:

$ac+bd=ef$.

### Proof: Method I

Given cyclic quadrilateral $\displaystyle ABCD,$ extend $\displaystyle CD$ to $\displaystyle P$ such that $\angle BAC=\angle DAP.$

Since quadrilateral $\displaystyle ABCD,$ is cyclic, $\displaystyle m\angle ABC+m\angle ADC=180^\circ .$ However, $\displaystyle \angle ADP$ is also supplementary to $\displaystyle \angle ADC.$ Hence, $\displaystyle \angle ADP=\angle ABC$ and $\displaystyle \triangle ABC \sim\triangle ADP$ by $\displaystyle AA$ similarity.

### Example

In a regular heptagon ABCDEFG, prove that: 1/AB = 1/AC + 1/AD.

Solution: Let ABCDEFG be the regular heptagon. Consider the quadrilateral ABCE. If a, b, and c represent the lengths of the side, the short diagonal, and the long diagonal respectively, then the lengths of the sides of ABCE are a, a, b and c; and the diagonals of ABCE are b and c, respectively.

Now Ptolemy's theorem states that ab + ac = bc, which is equivalent to 1/a=1/b+1/c.