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Geometry Tutorial 1. Ptolemy's Inequality

Ptolemy's inequality states that for any quadrilateral ABCD, the product of the diagonals is less than or equal to the sum of the products of opposite sides (AB × CD + BC × AD ≥ AC × BD). The inequality is proved using similarity of triangles. It becomes an equality only when the quadrilateral is cyclic (the four points lie on a single circle). A generalized version allows arbitrary points not on a line, and is proved using inversion in a circle.

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89 views3 pages

Geometry Tutorial 1. Ptolemy's Inequality

Ptolemy's inequality states that for any quadrilateral ABCD, the product of the diagonals is less than or equal to the sum of the products of opposite sides (AB × CD + BC × AD ≥ AC × BD). The inequality is proved using similarity of triangles. It becomes an equality only when the quadrilateral is cyclic (the four points lie on a single circle). A generalized version allows arbitrary points not on a line, and is proved using inversion in a circle.

Uploaded by

FinaAlfinaRahmawati
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Geometry Tutorial 1.

Ptolemy’s inequality

One of the most important tools in proving geometric inequalities is

Theorem 1 (Ptolemy’s Inequality) Let ABCD be an arbitrary quadri-


lateral in the plane. Then

AB · CD + BC · AD ≥ AC · BD.

This inequality becomes equality if and only if the quadrilateral is cyclic.

Proof: Firstly, we will consider the case, when the quadrilateral ABCD
is convex. Let us rotate the plane about B and then dilate, choosing the
coefficient of the dilation k so that the image of D coincides with A. Let us
0
denote the image of C as C .

B
C

C'

A D

0 AB BD
Since the triangles ABC and DBC are similar we get 0 = and hence
AC CD
0 AB · CD
AC = .
BD

1
0 0
The triangles C BC and ABD are also similar because 6 C BC = 6 ABD
and 0
CB AB
= = k.
BC BD
BC BD
This similarity yields 0 = , whence
CC AD
0 BC · AD
CC= .
BD
By the Triangle inequality
0 AB · CD BC · AD
0
AC + C C = + ≥ AC,
BD BD
and therefore AB · CD + BC · AD ≥ AC · BD. This inequality is an equality
0
if and only if C is on the segment AC in which case we have
0
6 BAC = 6 BAC = 6 BDC
and the points A, B, C, D are concyclic.
Let us assume now that the quadrilateral is not convex. Then one of
its diagonals, say BD does not have common points with the interior of the
quadrilateral.
B

C'

A C

Reflecting C about BD we will get a convex quadrilateral ABC 0 D whose side


are of the same lengths as that of ABCD but the product of the diagonals
for ABCD is smaller than for ABC 0 D as AC < AC 0 and BD is the same
in both cases. Therefore Ptolemy’s inequality holds in this case too, and
inequality never becomes equality.
Another proof of Ptolemy’s inequality can be obtained using inversion.
We will prove even more general statement.

2
Theorem 2 (Generalised Ptolemy’s inequality) Let A, B, C, D be ar-
bitrary points in the plane, but not on a line. Then
AB · CD + BC · AD ≥ AC · BD.
This inequality becomes equality if and only if the points A, B, C, D are con-
cyclic and each of the two arcs determined by the points A, C contains one
of the two remaining points.
Proof: Consider an inversion i with pole D and any coefficient r > 0. Let
A0 , B 0 , C 0 be the images of A, B, C under this inversion respectively. Applying
the Triangle inequality for the points A0 , B 0 , C 0 , we get
A0 B 0 + B 0 C 0 ≥ A0 C 0 . (1)
It is well-known (or easy to prove) how distances between points change
under inversion. In our case, if X, Y are any two points different from D,
and if X 0 , Y 0 are their images under i then
r 2 · XY
X 0Y 0 = .
DX · DY
This formula can be applied to any pair of points A, B, C because they are
all different from D. So we rewrite (1) in the form
r2 · AB r2 · BC r2 · AC
+ ≥ .
DA · DB DB · DC DA · DC
After multiplying both sides by DA · DB · DC, the latter becomes
AB · CD + BC · AD ≥ AC · BD, (2)
as desired. It is clear that (2) becomes equality, only when (1) becomes equal-
ity. This happens, when A0 , B 0 , C 0 are on the line with B 0 beeing between A0
and C 0 . Since the points are not on the same line, this means that before the
inversion they were on a circle with B and D on different arcs determined
by A and C.
Comment 1: Theorem 2 is clearly independent of whether or not the given
points lie in the same plane. It does not change in the slightest if they are
in three-dimensional space.
Comment 2: Theorem 2 is also true in some cases, when the given points
lie on the same line. This case can easily be sorted out but it is not of interest
to us.

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