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Newton's Formulas


Newton's formulas relate the side lengths and opposite angles of a triangle. Let a triangle have side lengths a, b, and c with opposite angles A, B, and C. Then

(b+c)/a=(cos[1/2(B-C)])/(sin(1/2A))
(1)
(c+a)/b=(cos[1/2(C-A)])/(sin(1/2B))
(2)
(a+b)/c=(cos[1/2(A-B)])/(sin(1/2C)).
(3)

The companion difference identities are called Mollweide's formulas (Beyer 1987, p. 146), although the sum and difference identities are also grouped together as Mollweide's formula or Mollweide's equation (Karjanto 2011, pp. 70-71).

A generalization to a nondegenerate convex cyclic quadrilateral is given by García (2022, pp. 19-21). Let its successive vertices be P, Q, R, and S, with side lengths a=PQ, b=QR, c=RS, and d=SP, and let its interior angles be alpha, beta, gamma, and delta, respectively. If its polygon diagonals intersect at E and theta=∠RES, then

 (sin[1/2(alpha+beta)])/(cos[1/2(gamma-delta)])=(a+c)/(b+d)cot(1/2theta).
(4)

The triangle sum identity is recovered in the limit as two adjacent vertices coalesce on the circumcircle (García 2022, pp. 20-21).


See also

Cyclic Quadrilateral, Mollweide's Formulas, Triangle

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References

Beyer, W. H. CRC Standard Mathematical Tables, 28th ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, p. 146, 1987.García, E. A. J. "A Generalization of Mollweide's Formula, Rather Newton's." MATINF 5, 19-22, 2022. http://matinf.upit.ro/MATINF9_10/files/downloads/Revista_2022.pdf.Karjanto, N. "Mollweide's Formula in Teaching Trigonometry." Teaching Math. Appl. 30, 70-74, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hrr008.

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Newton's Formulas

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Newton's Formulas." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/NewtonsFormulas.html

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