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Heptagonal Triangle


HeptagonalTriangle

A heptagonal triangle is the unique (modulo rotations) scalene triangle formed from three vertices of a regular heptagon, having vertex angles pi/7, 2pi/7, and 4pi/7. There are a number of amazing formulas connecting the sides and angles of the heptagonal triangle (Bankoff and Garfunkel 1973).

HeptagonalTriangleReflection

The reflection triangle of a heptagonal triangle is another heptagonal triangle, similar to the original with scale factor sqrt(2) and twice its area. Its vertices are obtained by reflecting each original vertex across the line containing the opposite side (E. Pegg, Jr., pers. comm., Sep. 30, 2026).

The area of the triangle is

 A=1/4sqrt(7)R^2,
(1)

where R is the triangle's circumradius. The sum of squares of sides of the heptagonal triangle is equal to 7R^2 (Bankoff and Garfunkel 1973). The ratio x=r/R of inradius r to circumradius R is given by the positive root of

 8x^3+28x^2+14x-7=0.
(2)

The side lengths satisfy

 1/(a^2)+1/(b^2)+1/(c^2)=2/(R^2)
(3)

(Bankoff and Garfunkel 1973) and

 1/b+1/c=1/a.
(4)

The latter can be easily proved by applying Ptolemy's theorem to the quadrilateral with sides c, a, a, and b, and diagonals c and b, and dividing by abc (I. Larrosa Cañestro, pers. comm., Apr. 23, 2006).

The Brocard angle Omega satisfies

 cotOmega=sqrt(7),
(5)

and the exradius r_a is equal to the radius of the nine-point circle of DeltaABC.

a is half the harmonic mean of the other two sides,

 a=(bc)/(b+c)
(6)
 b^2-a^2=ac,
(7)

and so on for all permutations of variables (Bankoff and Garfunkel 1973). Also,

 (b^2)/(a^2)+(c^2)/(b^2)+(a^2)/(c^2)=5.
(8)

If h_a, h_b, and h_c are the altitudes, then

 h_a=h_b+h_c
(9)
 h_a^2+h_b^2+h_c^2=1/2(a^2+b^2+c^2).
(10)

If A^', B^', and C^' are the feet of the altitudes, then

 BA^'·A^'C=1/4ac
(11)

and so on (Bankoff and Garfunkel 1973). The internal angle bisectors of C and B are equal to the difference of the adjacent sides and the external angle bisector of A is equal to the sum of adjacent sides.

HeptagonalTriBisectors

The triangle DeltaDEF joining the feet of the angle bisectors of the heptagonal triangle is an isosceles triangle with DF=EF.

HeptagonalTriOrthMed
HeptagonalTriNinePoint

The orthic triangle DeltaH_AH_BH_C and median triangle M_AM_BM_C are congruent and perspective. In addition, both are similar to DeltaABC, to the pedal triangle DeltaP_AP_BP_C of DeltaABC with respect to the nine-point center N, and to the triangle DeltaII_BI_C formed by the incenter I and the exterior angle bisectors I_B and I_C (Bankoff and Garfunkel 1973). The triangle DeltaIBC is also similar to these triangles.

There are also a slew of curious trigonometric identities involving the angles of the heptagonal triangle:

cosAcosBcosC=-1/8
(12)
cos^2A+cos^2B+cos^2C=5/4
(13)
cos^4A+cos^4B+cos^4C=(13)/(16)
(14)
cos^2Acos^2B+cos^2Acos^2C+cos^2Bcos^2C=3/8
(15)
cos(2A)+cos(2B)+cos(2C)=-1/2
(16)
cotA+cotB+cotC=sqrt(7)
(17)
cot^2A+cot^2B+cot^2C=5
(18)
csc^2A+csc^2B+csc^2C=8
(19)
csc^4A+csc^4B+csc^4C=32
(20)
sec^2A+sec^2B+sec^2C=24
(21)
sec^4A+sec^4B+sec^4C=416
(22)
sec(2A)+sec(2B)+sec(2C)=-4
(23)
sinAsinBsinC=1/8sqrt(7)
(24)
sin^2A+sin^2B+sin^2C=7/4
(25)
sin(2A)+sin(2B)+sin(2C)=1/2sqrt(7)
(26)
sin^2Asin^2B+sin^2Asin^2C+sin^2Bsin^2C=7/8
(27)
sin^4A+sin^4B+sin^4C=(21)/(16)
(28)
tanAtanBtanC=-sqrt(7)
(29)
tan^2A+tan^2B+tan^2C=21
(30)

(Bankoff and Garfunkel 1973).

In addition,

 sinA+sinB+sinC=1/2cot(1/(14)pi).
(31)

Finally, the heptagonal triangle satisfies the miscellaneous properties:

1. The first Brocard point corresponds to the nine-point center and the second Brocard point lies on the nine-point circle.

2. OH=Rsqrt(2), where O is the circumcenter, H is the orthocenter, and R is the circumradius.

3. IH=(R^2+4r^2)/2, where I is the incenter and r is the inradius.

4. The two tangents from the orthocenter H to the circumcircle of the heptagonal triangle are mutually perpendicular.

5. The center of the circumcircle of the tangential triangle corresponds with the symmetric point of O with respect to H.

6. The altitude from B is half the length of the internal angle bisector of the angle A.


See also

Heptagon, Reflection Triangle, Trigonometry Angles--Pi/7

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References

Bankoff, L. and Garfunkel, J. "Problem E1222: The Regular Heptagon." Amer. Math. Monthly 64, 112, 1957.Bankoff, L. "Problem 189." Pi Mu Epsilon J. 4, 258, 1967.Bankoff, L. and Garfunkel, J. "The Heptagonal Triangle." Math. Mag. 46, 7-19, 1973.

Referenced on Wolfram|Alpha

Heptagonal Triangle

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Heptagonal Triangle." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/HeptagonalTriangle.html

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