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LESSON
LESSON

6.2
Chord Properties
In the last lesson you discovered some properties of a tangent, a line that intersects
the circle only once. In this lesson you will investigate properties of a chord, a line
6.2
segment whose endpoints lie on the circle.
In a person with correct vision, light rays from PLANNING
You will do foolish things, but distant objects are focused to a point on the
do them with enthusiasm. retina. If the eye represents a circle, then the path
of the light from the lens to the retina represents LESSON OUTLINE
SIDONIE GABRIELLA COLETTE
a chord. The angle formed by two of these chords One day:
to the same point on the retina represents an
inscribed angle. 25 min Investigation
First you will define two types of angles in a circle. 10 min Sharing
5 min Closing
5 min Exercises
Investigation 1 MATERIALS
Defining Angles in a Circle  construction tools
Write a good definition of each boldfaced term. Discuss your definitions with
others in your group. Agree on a common set of definitions as a class and add  protractors
them to your definition list. In your notebook, draw and label a figure to illustrate  Gear Fragment (W) for One Step
each term.
 Sketchpad activity Chord Properties,
Step 1 A central Step 1 Central Angle. optional
angle has its vertex at
D R
the center of the circle.  Sketchpad demonstration Intersecting
Tangents Conjecture, optional
O P
A
Q S TEACHING
B T
In this lesson students discover

AOB,
DOA, and
DOB
PQR,
PQS,
RST,
QST, and
some properties relating central
are central angles of circle O.
QSR are not central angles of circle P
angles, chords, and arcs of
Step 2 An Step 2 Inscribed Angle. circles. Begin with the one-step
inscribed angle has its Q
vertex on the circle and V
investigation, or ask groups to
A
its sides are chords. P R
work through Investigations
C 1 through 4.
T
B W You can replace or extend
E Investigations 1 and 2 with the
X
D S U Dynamic Geometry Exploration

ABC,
BCD, and
CDE are
PQR,
STU, and
VWX are at www.keymath.com/DG.
inscribed angles. not inscribed angles.
You might have students use
patty paper for Investigations 2
through 4. You can have students
construct circles on patty paper
by tracing circular objects.
NCTM STANDARDS LESSON OBJECTIVES
Guiding Investigation 1
CONTENT PROCESS  Discover properties of chords to a circle
Number  Problem Solving  Practice construction skills One Step
Hand out the Gear Fragment
Algebra  Reasoning worksheet and pose this pro-
 Geometry  Communication blem: “In repairing a machine,
you find a fragment of a circular
 Measurement  Connections gear. To replace the gear, you
Data/Probability Representation need to know its diameter.
How can you find the gear’s

LESSON 6.2 Chord Properties 317

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diameter?” You may need to Investigation 2

review the term diameter right
away. As you circulate, wonder Chords and Their Central Angles
aloud as needed whether the You will need Next you will discover some properties of chords and B
center is somehow related to the ● a compass central angles. You will also see a relationship between D
chords of the circle, pointing out ● a straightedge chords and arcs. O
what you mean by chord. ● a protractor
● patty paper Step 1 Construct a large circle. Label the center O. Construct
Step 2 If groups are having diffi- (optional)
two congruent chords in your circle. Label the chords A
C
culty defining inscribed angle,
and CD
AB
, then construct radii OA
, OB
, OC


, and OD


.
[Ask] “Where have you heard
Step 2 With your protractor, measure
BOA and
COD. How do they compare? Share
the word inscribed before?”
your results with others in your group. Then copy and complete the conjecture.
[A triangle inscribed in a circle
(whose center is the circum-
C-55
center of the triangle) has all Chord Central Angles Conjecture
three vertices on the circle, and If two chords in a circle are congruent, then they determine two central
its sides are chords of the circle. ? congruent
angles that are

An inscribed triangle has three
inscribed angles.]
Step 3 Fold it so that Step 3 How can you fold your circle construction to check
 coincides with OB
OD  and the conjecture?
Guiding Investigation 2  coincides with OA
OC .
Step 4 Recall that the measure of an arc is defined as the
measure of its central angle. If two central angles are
[Alert] If you find that all or congruent, their intercepted arcs must be congruent.
most students in a group are Combine this fact with the Chord Central Angles ? ?
using a central angle that Conjecture to complete the next conjecture.
measures 60° (because they
didn’t change the compass C-56
setting after drawing the circle), Chord Arcs Conjecture intercepted arcs
point out that they don’t have ? are congruent.
If two chords in a circle are congruent, then their

enough information for good
inductive reasoning; then have
them all change their settings
from the circle’s radius and “Pull the cord?! Don’t I need
begin again. to construct it first?”

[Alert] Students may have trouble

constructing congruent chords.
Challenge them to find the
endpoints without using a ruler.
They might mark two points on
the circle and then use a
constant compass opening to
locate two other points on the
circle the same distance apart.
Step 3 If their paper is too thick
to see through when folded,
students may want to copy their
figure to patty paper.
tures without going through the steps or comparing
Students may find this investiga- results with others in their group. Remind them
tion and the next two investiga- that the process is more important than the results.
tions fairly straightforward If students finish early, you might challenge them
and may begin writing conjec- with the one-step problem.

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Investigation 3 Guiding Investigation 3

Chords and the Center Step 1 Students can use the same
You will need of the Circle two congruent chords and the
● a compass In this investigation you will discover relationships about a same drawing for Investigations
● a straightedge chord and the center of its circle. 2 and 3. [Alert] Students may
● patty paper
(optional) Step 1 Construct a large circle and mark the center. Construct need some review in how to
two nonparallel congruent chords. Then construct the construct perpendiculars. Using
perpendiculars from the center to each chord. compass constructions to
Step 2 How does the perpendicular from the center of a circle complete all four investigations
to a chord divide the chord? Copy and complete the conjecture. may be too time-consuming, but
this construction and the next
C-57 can be completed quickly using
Perpendicular to a Chord Conjecture
patty-paper constructions. The
? of
The perpendicular from the center of a circle to a chord is the
perpendicular through the center
the chord. bisector
of the circle to the chord can be
folded.
Let’s continue this investigation to discover a relationship between the length of
congruent chords and their distances from the center of the circle.
Guiding Investigation 4
Step 3 Compare the distances (measured along the perpendicular) from the center to
the chords. Are the results the same if you change the size of the circle and the
The perpendicular bisectors of
length of the chords? State your observations as your next conjecture.
the chords can be constructed by
simply folding the chord in half.
C-58
Chord Distance to Center Conjecture The Perpendicular Bisector of a
? from the center of the circle. equidistant
Two congruent chords in a circle are
Chord Conjecture is the converse
of the Perpendicular to a Chord
Conjecture.

SHARING IDEAS
As usual, for presentations select
groups that have a variety of
Investigation 4 statements of the conjectures. As
Perpendicular Bisector students present, encourage them
You will need of a Chord to put the ideas in their own
● a compass words, not just those of the
Next, you will discover a property of perpendicular
● a straightedge bisectors of chords. conjectures as presented in the
● patty paper student book. Help the class
(optional) Step 1 Construct a large circle and mark the center. Construct reach consensus on the wording
two nonparallel chords that are not diameters. Then
construct the perpendicular bisector of each chord and
to record in their notebooks.
extend the bisectors until they intersect. [Ask] “How would you define
congruent arcs?” Although the
measure of an arc was first
defined in Chapter 1, some
students may still be wondering
why arcs are measured in degrees
based on their central angle.
Sharing Ideas (continued) [Ask] “Congruent chords are equidistant from the Drawing a central angle of 90°
measure can have very different lengths. Ask center. Can we say anything about distance from may help some students relate
whether having the same measure is enough to the center if one chord is longer than the other?” the central angle to a quarter of
make two arcs congruent, as is the case for line [In the same circle, shorter chords are farther from a circle. But one source of diffi-
segments and angles. [Ask] “What’s needed to the center.] culty may be a natural tendency
ensure that two arcs have the same size and shape?” to think that measure means
[Congruent arcs must be on the same or congruent “size” in some direct way, and the
circles.] (Some students may think that an arc of a measure of an arc doesn’t give its
larger circle will have the same size and shape as an length. In fact, in different
arc of a smaller circle. To the extent possible, let circles, arcs with the same
other students convince them that the curvature
will be different.)
LESSON 6.2 Chord Properties 319
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Assessing Progress Step 2 What do you notice about the point of intersection? Compare your results with
You can assess students’ under- the results of others near you. Copy and complete the conjecture.
standing of (and use of the vocab-
C-59
ulary for) radius, chord, central Perpendicular Bisector of a Chord Conjecture
angle, and inscribed angle and ? . passes through the center
The perpendicular bisector of a chord

their skill at constructing a circle, of the circle
measuring an angle with a
protractor, and comparing
segments with a compass. You [ For interactive versions of these investigations, see the Dynamic Geometry Exploration Chord Properties
might also see how well they at www.keymath.com/DG . ]
understand the difference between keymath.com/DG
drawing and constructing. With the perpendicular bisector of a chord, you can find the center of any circle,
and therefore the vertex of the central angle to any arc. All you have to do is
Closing the Lesson construct the perpendicular bisectors of nonparallel chords.

Summarize that the major conjec-

tures of this lesson are about EXERCISES You will need
Construction tools
congruent chords of a circle: They
determine congruent central
 Solve Exercises 1–10. State which conjectures or definitions you used. for Exercises 16–19

angles, they intercept congruent 1. x 

? 165° 2. z 

? 84° 3. w 

? 70°
arcs, and they are equidistant x 20
from the center. Another pair of
conjectures about chords forms a 128
165 70 w
biconditional: A line through the
center of a circle is perpendicular
to a chord if and only if it bisects z
the chord. If students are still definition of measure of an arc Chord Arcs Conj. Chord Central Angles Conj.
4. AB  CD

is a diameter. Find
5. AB 6. GIAN is a kite.
shaky about these ideas, you
and m
B.
PO  8 cm mAC Find w, x, and y. w
115°
might want to use one of OQ 
? 8 cm x
115°
Exercises 1–6 as an example. y G y
65°
B
C
I x
C
BUILDING A
O Q
68 O
O
115
UNDERSTANDING P
A N
D
A
B w
The exercises focus on applying Chord Distance to Center Conj.
7. AB  6 cm OP  4 cm
 130°
8. mAC ? Chord Arcs Conjecture
9. x 

the conjectures about chords.
Encourage students to sketch CD  8 cm OQ  3 cm Find w, x, y, and z. y
?
BD  6 cm w
110° z
?
pictures on their own papers. What is the perimeter of x
48°
They can then mark and label all OPBDQ? 20 cm y
82° 72
w D
information accordingly. z
120° F T
A z
C A 110 O x
ASSIGNING HOMEWORK P O y O
z
y
Q x
Essential 1–14, 17, 18
B
E A
B C
Performance D
48
assessment 17, 18 Perpendicular to a Chord Conj. definition of arc measure
Portfolio 20
Journal 13, 14, 16
|

 Helping with the Exercises 9. x
96°, Chord Arcs Conjecture; y
96°,

Chord Central Angles Conjecture; z
42°,
Group 15, 21
5. mAC

68°; mB
34° (Because
OBC is Isosceles Triangle Conjecture and Triangle Sum
Review 22–28 isosceles, mB
mC, mB  mC
68°, and Conjecture.
Algebra review 15, 21, 26 therefore mB
34°.)
Exercise 7 [Alert] Some students may neglect to add
MATERIALS
on the length OQ.
 circular objects and patty paper
(Exercise 17) Exercise 9 As needed, [Ask] “What do the measures
of all the arcs add up to?” [360°]
 Exercises 18 and 19 (T), optional

320 CHAPTER 6 Discovering and Proving Circle Properties

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 CO


, mCI
 66° 11. Developing Proof What’s wrong 12. Developing Proof What’s wrong
10. AB Exercise 10 [Alert] Students may
Find x, y, and z. with this picture? with this picture? miss the fact that the two radii in
C ABO are congruent, making it
z I The length of The perpendicular
an isosceles triangle.
37 cm
the chord is O
A bisector of the 10. x
66°, y
48°, z
66°;
y O 18 cm greater than the segment does not
x length of the pass through the
Corresponding Angles
B diameter. center of the circle. Conjecture, Isosceles Triangle
Conjecture, Linear Pair
13. Draw a circle and two chords of unequal length. Which is closer to the center of the Conjecture
circle, the longer chord or the shorter chord? Explain.
Exercise 12 If students are having
14. Draw two circles with different radii. In each circle, draw a chord so that the chords difficulty, [Ask] “What does the
have the same length. Draw the central angle determined by each chord. Which perpendicular bisector have
central angle is larger? Explain. to go through?” [the center of
M (?, 3) P (4, 3) the circle]
15. Polygon MNOP is a rectangle inscribed in a circle centered at the
origin. Find the coordinates of points M, N, and O.
M(4, 3), N(4, 3), O(4, 3) 13. The longer chord is closer
16. Construction Construct a triangle. Using the sides of the triangle as N (?, ?) O (?, ?) to the center; the longest chord,
chords, construct a circle passing through all three vertices. Explain. which is the diameter, passes
Why does this seem familiar? through the center.
17. Construction Trace a circle onto a blank sheet of paper
without using your compass. Locate the center of the circle
using a compass and straightedge. Trace another circle onto
patty paper and find the center by folding.

18. Construction Adventurer Dakota Davis digs up a piece of a

circular ceramic plate. Suppose he believes that some
ancient plates with this particular design have a diameter of 14. The central angle of the
15 cm. He wants to calculate the diameter of the original smaller circle is larger, because
plate to see if the piece he found is part of such a plate. the chord is closer to the center.
He has only this piece of the circular plate, shown at right,
to make his calculations. Trace the outer edge of the plate
onto a sheet of paper. Help him find the diameter.

19. Construction The satellite photo at right shows only a portion 5 cm

of a lunar crater. How can cartographers use the photo to 0 1 2 3 4 5 km
5 cm
find its center? Trace the crater and locate its center. Using
the scale shown, find its radius. To learn more about satellite Exercise 16 As needed, remind
photos, go to www.keymath.com/DG . They can draw two students of the meaning of a
chords and locate the intersection of their perpendicular
bisectors. The radius is just over 5 km.
triangle inscribed in a circle (or
a circle circumscribed around a
triangle).
16. The center of the circle is
the circumcenter of the triangle.
Possible construction:

Exercise 17 Have available round objects larger than Exercises 17–19 If students are having difficulty,
coins for tracing. wonder aloud whether there’s a conjecture that ends
with something about the center of a circle.
17. possible construction:
[Perpendicular Bisector of a Chord]
18.
13.8 cm

LESSON 6.2 Chord Properties 321

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20. Developing Proof Complete the flowchart proof shown, which proves that if two A
chords of a circle are congruent, then they determine two congruent central
angles.
B
Given: Circle O with chords AB

CD
O
Show:
AOB

COD
C
Flowchart Proof
D
1
AB
CD
? Given



AOB 
COD COD
2 4 5
AO
CO 
?

?
AOB



?
All radii of a circle ? SSS Congruence ? CPCTC



are congruent Conjecture y
3
BO
DO A (3, 4)
? All radii of a circle are congruent


O x
21. Circle O has center (0, 0) and passes through points A(3, 4) and
B(4, 3). Find an equation to show that the perpendicular bisector B (4, –3)

passes through the center of the circle. Explain your
of AB
reasoning. y
17 x; (0, 0) is a point on this line.

 Review
Chapter 5 22. Developing Proof Identify each of these statements as true or false. If the statement is
true, explain why. If it is false, give a counterexample.
a. If the diagonals of a quadrilateral are congruent, but only one is the
perpendicular bisector of the other, then the quadrilateral is a kite. true
b. If the quadrilateral has exactly one line of reflectional symmetry, then the
quadrilateral is a kite. false, isosceles trapezoid
c. If the diagonals of a quadrilateral are congruent and bisect each other, then
it is a square. false, rectangle

Exercise 23 You might use the 23. Mini-Investigation Use what you learned in the last lesson about the angle formed by a
Sketchpad demonstration Inter- tangent and a radius to find the missing arc measure or angle measure in each
secting Tangents Conjecture to diagram. Examine these cases to find a relationship between the measure of the
angle formed by two tangents to a circle,
P, and the measure of the intercepted arc,
preview or replace this exercise.
AB. Then copy and complete the conjecture below.

140° A A A
60°
P 40 x Q P 20 y Q P z 120 Q

B 160° B B

Conjecture: The measure of the angle formed by two intersecting tangents

? (Intersecting Tangents Conjecture). 180° minus the measure of the intercepted arc
to a circle is

22a. C
 AD
AC

and BC
 BD

. Because CD


is not the

, C is not equidistant
perpendicular bisector of AB
X from A and B. Likewise, D is not equidistant from
A B
A and B. So, AC
and BC
are not congruent, and


and BD
AD
are not congruent. Thus ACBD
has exactly two pairs of consecutive congruent
D
sides, so it is a kite.

is the perpendicular
Possible explanation: If AB



is
bisector of CD , then every point on AB
equidistant from endpoints C and D. Therefore

322 CHAPTER 6 Discovering and Proving Circle Properties