Geometry Triangle is the topic of International GCSE, O level Mathematics (Specification B) Geometry.
Geometry Triangle
A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices A, B, and C is denoted △.
In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non-collinear, determine a unique triangle and simultaneously, a unique plane (i.e. a two-dimensional Euclidean space). In other words, there is only one plane that contains that triangle, and every triangle is contained in some plane. If the entire geometry is only the Euclidean plane, there is only one plane and all triangles are contained in it; however, in higher-dimensional Euclidean spaces, this is no longer true. This article is about triangles in Euclidean geometry, and in particular, the Euclidean plane, except where otherwise noted.
The terminology for categorizing triangles is more than two thousand years old, having been defined on the very first page of Euclid’s Elements. The names used for modern classification are either a direct transliteration of Euclid’s Greek or their Latin translations.
By lengths of sides
Ancient Greek mathematician Euclid defined three types of triangle according to the lengths of their sides:
Greek: τῶν δὲ τριπλεύρων σχημάτων ἰσόπλευρον μὲν τρίγωνόν ἐστι τὸ τὰς τρεῖς ἴσας ἔχον πλευράς, ἰσοσκελὲς δὲ τὸ τὰς δύο μόνας ἴσας ἔχον πλευράς, σκαληνὸν δὲ τὸ τὰς τρεῖς ἀνίσους ἔχον πλευράς, lit. ‘Of trilateral figures, an isopleuron [equilateral] triangle is that which has its three sides equal, an isosceles that which has two of its sides alone equal, and a scalene that which has its three sides unequal.’
- An equilateral triangle (Greek: ἰσόπλευρον, romanized: isópleuron, lit. ‘equal sides’) has three sides of the same length. An equilateral triangle is also a regular polygon with all angles measuring 60°.
- An isosceles triangle (Greek: ἰσοσκελὲς, romanized: isoskelés, lit. ‘equal legs’) has two sides of equal length. An isosceles triangle also has two angles of the same measure, namely the angles opposite to the two sides of the same length. This fact is the content of the isosceles triangle theorem, which was known by Euclid. Some mathematicians define an isosceles triangle to have exactly two equal sides, whereas others define an isosceles triangle as one with at least two equal sides. The latter definition would make all equilateral triangles isosceles triangles. The 45–45–90 right triangle, which appears in the tetrakis square tiling, is isosceles.
- A scalene triangle (Greek: σκαληνὸν, romanized: skalinón, lit. ‘unequal’) has all its sides of different lengths. Equivalently, it has all angles of different measure.
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