Morley's Theorem
The points of intersection of the adjacent angle trisectors of the angles of any triangle
are the polygon
vertices of an equilateral triangle
known as the first
Morley triangle. Taylor and Marr (1914) give two geometric proofs and one trigonometric
proof.
A line
is parallel to a side of the first Morley
triangle if and only if
in directed angles modulo
(Ehrmann and Gibert
2001).
An even more beautiful result is obtained by taking the intersections of the exterior, as well as interior, angle trisectors, as shown above. In addition to the interior
equilateral triangle formed by the interior
trisectors, four additional equilateral triangles are obtained, three of which have
sides which are extensions of a central triangle (Wells 1991).
A generalization of Morley's theorem was discovered by Morley in 1900 but first published by Taylor and Marr (1914). Each angle of a triangle
has six trisectors, since each interior
angle trisector has two associated lines making angles of
with
it. The generalization of Morley's theorem states that these trisectors intersect
in 27 points (denoted
,
,
, for
, 1, 2) which lie six by six on nine lines.
Furthermore, these lines are in three triples of parallel
lines, (
,
,
), (
,
,
), and
(
,
,
), making angles
of
with one another (Taylor and
Marr 1914, Johnson 1929, p. 254).
Let
,
, and
be the other trisector-trisector
intersections, and let the 27 points
,
,
for
, 1, 2 be the isogonal
conjugates of
,
, and
. Then these points
lie 6 by 6 on 9 conics through
. In addition,
these conics meet 3 by 3 on the circumcircle,
and the three meeting points form an equilateral
triangle whose sides are parallel to those of
.
A construction similar to that described above, but curiously not quite corresponding to exact trisections, appears on the cover of Coxeter and Greitzer (1967).
SEE ALSO: Angle Trisection,
Conic Section,
First Morley Triangle,
Morley
Centers
REFERENCES:
Bogomolny, A. "Morley's Miracle." http://www.cut-the-knot.org/triangle/Morley/index.shtml.
Child, J. M. "Proof of Morley's Theorem." Math. Gaz. 11,
171, 1923.
Coxeter, H. S. M. and Greitzer, S. L. "Morley's Theorem." §2.9 in Geometry
Revisited. Washington, DC: Math. Assoc. Amer., pp. 47-50, 1967.
Ehrmann, J.-P. and Gibert, B. "A Morley Configuration." Forum Geom. 1,
51-58, 2001. http://forumgeom.fau.edu/FG2001volume1/FG200108index.html.
Gardner, M. Martin Gardner's New Mathematical Diversions from Scientific American. New York:
Simon and Schuster, pp. 198 and 206, 1966.
Honsberger, R. "Morley's Theorem." Ch. 8 in Mathematical
Gems I. Washington, DC: Math. Assoc. Amer., pp. 92-98, 1973.
Johnson, R. A. Modern Geometry: An Elementary Treatise on the Geometry of the Triangle and the Circle.
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, pp. 253-256, 1929.
Kimberling, C. "Hofstadter Points." Nieuw Arch. Wisk. 12,
109-114, 1994.
Lebesgue, H. "Sur les
-sectrices d'un
triangle." L'enseign. math. 38, 39-58, 1939.
Marr, W. L. "Morley's Trisection Theorem: An Extension and Its Relation to the Circles of Apollonius." Proc. Edinburgh Math. Soc. 32,
136-150, 1914.
Morley, F. "On Reflexive Geometry." Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 8,
14-24, 1907.
Naraniengar, M. T. Mathematical Questions and Their Solutions from the Educational
Times 15, 47, 1909.
Oakley, C. O. and Baker, J. C. "The Morley Trisector Theorem."
Amer. Math. Monthly 85, 737-745, 1978.
Pappas, T. "Trisecting & the Equilateral Triangle." The Joy of Mathematics. San Carlos, CA: Wide World Publ./Tetra, p. 174,
1989.
Steinhaus, H. Mathematical
Snapshots, 3rd ed. New York: Dover, p. 6, 1999.
Taylor, F. G. "The Relation of Morley's Theorem to the Hessian Axis and
Circumcentre." Proc. Edinburgh Math. Soc. 32, 132-135, 1914.
Taylor, F. G. and Marr, W. L. "The Six Trisectors of Each of the Angles
of a Triangle." Proc. Edinburgh Math. Soc. 32, 119-131, 1914.
Wells, D. The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Geometry. London: Penguin,
pp. 154-155, 1991.
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Morley's Theorem
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