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PappusChain
FromMathImages

PappusChain PappusChain
Pappuschainconsistsofalltheblackcircles
inthepinkregion.

Contents
1BasicDescription
2AMoreMathematicalExplanation
2.1Properties
2.1.1Height Field:Geometry
2.1.2Ellipse
CreatedBy:PhoebeJiang
2.2PappusChainandSteiner
Website:[]
Chain
3TeachingMaterials
4References
5FutureDirectionsforthisPage

BasicDescription

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AchainofinscribedcirclesiscalledaPappusChainwhenitsfirstcircle istangenttothethreesemicircles
formingtheArbelos,andallthesubsequentcircles aretangenttooneanotherandtotheboundariesofthe
arbelos.ThePappusChainisnamedafterPappusofAlexandria,agreatGreekmathematicianwhostudiedand
wroteaboutitinthe4thcenturyA.D.

Thefigureaboveshowsallofthethreevariationsofthechain:leftward,rightward,anddownward.Thedefault
positionistheonethatextendstotheright.

AMoreMathematicalExplanation
Note:understandingofthisexplanationrequires:*Geometry

[ClicktohideAMoreMathematicalExplanation]

Properties
Height

InthePappusChain,theheightofthecenterofthenthcircleis
ntimesthediameterofthatcircle.

TheproofPappusgaveislongandcomplicated,containing
Euclideangeometry,similartriangles,andthePythagorean
Theorem.Wewontlisthisproofhere.Instead,heresa
simpler,moremodernproofusingtheconceptofinversion:

Itsfineifyoudon'tknowmuchaboutcircleinversion.
Basically,"inversionisatypeoftransformationthatmoves
pointsfromtheinsideofacircletotheoutsideandfromthe
outsideofacircletotheinsideusingaspecificrule"[1 Figure5Height
(http://mathforum.org/mathimages/index.php/Inversion)].The
basicpropertiesofinversionareasfollows.GotoInversionto
getamorecompleteunderstanding.

Theinverseofalinenotpassingthroughthecenterofthecircleisacircle
Theinverseofacirclenotpassingthroughthecenterofthecircleisacircle
Theinverseofacirclepassingthroughthecenterofthecircleisaline.

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Wewanttoprovethattheheightofthecenterofthenthcircleabove isntimesthediameterofthatcircle,so
weareinvertingoverthenthcircleinthechain.Todothis,firstinvertcircle andcircle withrespectto
acirclecenteredat .Becausebothcircle andcircle passthroughthecenterofthecircle ,they
becometwoverticallinesaccordingtothethirdpropertylistedabove(seethefigureontheleft).Circle
invertstotheleftlinebecausewhen hasasmallerradiusthan ,itinvertstoafurtherline.Tohelpyou
understanditbetter,treatthecirclecenteredat asamirror.Ifthecircleisclosertothecenterpoint ,itwill
bereflectedfurtheraway.

Second,invertthenthcircleinthePappusChainandthetwocirclesthataretangenttoit.Theinverseofthenth
circleisitself.Theinverseofthesubsequentcirclesinscribedinthechainarecirclestangenttothetwoparallel,
verticallinesbeloworabovethenthcircle.Becausethesubsequentcirclesaretangenttocircle and ,it
makessensethattheyarestilltangenttotheinverseofthetwocircles.

Nowwearedonewiththeinversions.Let'stakealookattherightfigure.Sincethoseinversedcircleareidentical,
itisnothardtoconcludethattheheightofthecenterofthenthcircleisntimesthediameterofthatcircle.For
example, forthesecondcircle.

Ellipse

Thecentersofallthecircles inthePappusChain
lieonanellipse.

Figure6Ellipse

Let bethecenterofcircle bethecenterofthecircle representthecentersofallofthe

Inordertoprovethisproperty,thefirstthingtodoistoknowthedefinitionofanellipse.Inwhatconditionswilla
pointlieonanellipseintwodimensions?First,thesumofthedistancesfromapointontheellipsetotwofixed
pointsisaconstant.Second,theconstantisgreaterthanthedistancebetweenthetwofixedpoints.

WeneedtoshowthatallofthecentersofthecirclesinthePappusChainsatisfythetwoconditions.Thetwofixed
pointsare .

Because

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and

weget

Forthereasonthat (because )

Thus,thecentersofallthecircles inthePappusChainlieonanellipse.

PappusChainandSteinerChain

ThePappusChainisalsoaSteinerChain(seeSteiner's
Porism),achainformedbycirclesthataretangenttotwocircles,oneinscribedwithintheother.

TeachingMaterials
Therearecurrentlynoteachingmaterialsforthispage.Addteachingmaterials.
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References
[1]vanLamoen,FloorandWeisstein,EricW.PappusChain.FromMathWorldAWolframWebResource.
Retrievedfromhttp://mathworld.wolfram.com/PappusChain.html.

[2]Boas,HaroldP.ReflectionsontheArbelos.Retrievedfrom
http://www.math.tamu.edu/~harold.boas/preprints/arbelos.pdf.

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