Angle Chasing

Rishabh Das ([email protected])

New York City Math Team

Angle chasing is the foundation of geometry, so we go in depth on the technique. Although it is built on
very few rules, it can get very tricky at times.

1 Basic Facts
`1

`2

Fact 1
If `1 and `2 intersect at a point, then we split the 360◦ around this point into four angles, and opposite
pairs of angles are equal to each other.

`1

`2

Fact 2
If `1 k `2 and ` is a line not parallel to these two lines, then the acute angle formed by `1 and ` is
congruent to the acute angle formed by `2 and `.

It is important to note that the converse of Fact 2 is true; that is, if ` intersects lines `1 and `2 and creates
equal angles, we must have `1 k `2 .
Fact 2 is actually enough to prove one of the most important facts when it comes to angle chasing.

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Angle Chasing Rishabh Das ([email protected])

Example
Prove that the sum of the angles of any triangle ABC is 180◦ .

Proof
Draw a triangle and draw the line ` parallel to BC through A.

B C
By Fact 2, we see that ∠ACB is equal to the angle between AC and ` (i.e. the blue angles are equal).
Similarly, we see that ∠CBA is equal to the angle between AB and ` (i.e. the green angles are equal).
Then the sum of the angles of the triangle is equal to the angle of a line, which is just 180◦ .

In fact, a much more general result is true.

Theorem (Sum of angles in a polygon with n sides)

The sum of the angles in an n-gon (a polygon with n sides) is 180◦ (n − 2).

The proof of this fact is a lot harder than the above proof. If you want, try to prove this fact! (Hint: Show
that you can partition any polygon into triangles.)

2 Some Exercises
Problems
Exercise 1 (2019 DMI Marathon/1). In a quadrilateral, the angles form a geometric sequence with common
ratio 2019. Compute the average of all the angles in the quadrilateral.

Exercise 2 (2020 AMC 10B/4). The acute angles of a right triangle are a◦ and b◦ , where a > b and both
a and b are prime numbers. What is the least possible value of b?

Exercise 3 (2019 CMIMC Geometry/1). The figure below depicts two congruent triangles with angle
measures 40◦ , 50◦ , and 90◦ . What is the measure of the obtuse angle α formed by the hypotenuses of these
two triangles?

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Angle Chasing Rishabh Das ([email protected])

Exercise 4 (2018 CMIMC Geometry/1). Let ABC be a triangle. Point P lies in the interior of 4ABC
such that ∠ABP = 20◦ and ∠ACP = 15◦ . Compute ∠BP C − ∠BAC.
Exercise 5. In the following diagram, what is the angle labeled with “?”? (The two long lines are parallel.)

Solutions
360◦
1. The sum of the angles of any quadrilateral is 180◦ ·2 = 360◦ , so the average of the angles is 4 = 90◦ .
2. Because the triangle is a right triangle, one of its angles is 90◦ . Since the sum of the angles of any
triangle is 180◦ , we get
90◦ + a◦ + b◦ = 180◦ =⇒ a + b = 90.
Thus, a and b are two prime numbers that sum up to 90. We try b = 2, 3, 5, but these give a = 88, 87, 85,
none of which are prime. If b = 7 then a = 83, which is prime. Thus, the least possible value of b is
7.
3. First we label the points.
C

E
50◦
α
X

50◦
A B D

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Note that because AC > AE = AB, we must have ∠ABC > ∠ACB, so ∠ABC = 50◦ . Similarly,
∠AED = 50◦ . Now we look at quadrilateral ABXE. The sum of the angles in this quadrilateral must
be 360◦ , so
90◦ + 50◦ + 50◦ + ∠BXE = 360◦ =⇒ 190◦ + ∠BXE = 360◦ =⇒ ∠BXE = 170◦ .
By vertical angles, we have ∠BXE = ∠CXD = α, so α = 170◦ .
4. First we draw a diagram.

We label ∠P BC = α and ∠P CB = β. Looking at 4BP C, we see

α + β + ∠BP C = 180◦ =⇒ ∠BP C = 180◦ − α − β.
Looking at 4ABC, we see
(α + 20◦ ) + (β + 15◦ ) + ∠BAC = 180◦ =⇒ ∠BAC = 145◦ − α − β.
Subtraction our two equations yields
∠BP C − ∠BAC = (180◦ − α − β) − (145◦ − α − β) = 35◦ .

5. We draw parallel lines through all of the vertices.

We use Fact 2 several times to get all of the red angles. Then the answer is 20◦ + 30◦ = 50◦ .

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3 Circles and Angles

First we define what we mean by the measure of arc XY
d.

Definition
For points X and Y on a circle with center O, then the measure of arc XY
d (often shortened as XY
d ) is
defined to be either ∠XOY or the reflex angle ∠XOY , depending on context.

Y X

The smaller of the two arcs is called “minor arc XY

d ”, while the other one is called “major arc XY
d ”.

With this definition, we can state the inscribed angle theorem.

Theorem (Inscribed Angle Theorem)

If X, A, and Y are points on a circle centered at O, then ∠XAY is equal to half of XY
d , where we choose
either the normal angle or the reflex angle so that it and ∠XAY “point in the same direction”.

The statement of the theorem isn’t entirely clear, so here are a few examples.
A

Y X Y X

O
Y X
O O

A A

To prove the inscribed angle theorem, we require one more fact.

Fact 3
If 4ABC is isosceles with AB = AC, then ∠ABC = ∠ACB.

Now we can prove the inscribed angle theorem.

Proof
There are 3 cases: when A is on minor arc XY , major arc XY , or if XY is a diameter. All three cases
are similar, so we just show the first case. You should complete the other two cases though.

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Y X

Label ∠OAY = α and ∠OAX = β. Since OA = OY , we have ∠OAY = ∠OY A = α. Since the sum of
the angles of 4OAY is 180◦ , we must have ∠AOY = 180◦ − 2α. Similarly, ∠AOX = 180◦ − 2β. Then

∠XOY = 360◦ − (∠AOY + ∠AOX) = 360◦ − ((180◦ − 2α) + (180◦ − 2β)) = 2(α + β) = 2∠XAY

as desired.

Note that this implies that if A lies on a circle with diameter XY , then ∠XAY = 90◦ .

4 More Exercises
Exercise 1. If A, B, C, D lie on a circle in that order, prove that ∠BAC = ∠BDC. (ABCD is called a
cyclic quadrilateral)
Exercise 2. If A, B, C, D lie on a circle in that order, prove that ∠ABC +∠CDA = ∠DAB+∠BCD = 180◦ .
Exercise 3. Suppose A, B, C, D lie on a circle such that AC and BD intersect inside the circle at a point
P . Show that ∠AP B = AB+2 CD .
d d

Exercise 4. Suppose A, B, C, D lie on a circle such that the extension of AB past B and the extension of
CD past C intersect outside the circle at a point P . Show that ∠BP C = AD−
d BCd
2

Exercise 5 (Reim’s Theorem). Let ω1 and ω2 be two circles that intersect at X and Y . Draw a line through
X that intersects ω1 at A and ω2 at B. Draw a line through Y that intersects ω1 at C and ω2 at D. Prove
that AC k BD.
Exercise 6 (HARD). Prove that the converse of the statements in exercises 1 and 2 hold.

5 Triangle Centers
Before we continue, we introduce some notation for triangle 4ABC. We say ∠BAC = A, ∠ACB =
C, ∠CBA = B. This shorthand allows us to express many angles more concisely.
Now we define three important triangle centers. We take for granted that they exist.

Definition 7 (Triangle Centers)

We define the circumcenter of 4ABC to be the point that is the center of the circle that passes
through the points A, B, and C. This is point is commonly denoted by O, while the circle through A, B,
and C is called the circumcircle of 4ABC.

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Angle Chasing Rishabh Das ([email protected])

We define the incenter of 4ABC to be the point that is the intersection of the angle bisectors of
∠BAC, ∠ACB, and ∠CBA. This is commonly denoted by I. There exists a circle centered at I that is
tangent to all three sides of the triangle. This circle is called the incircle of 4ABC.
We define the orthocenter of 4ABC to be the point that is the intersection of the altitudes from A, B,
and C to BC, CA, and AB respectively. This is commonly denoted H.

Given these definitions, do the following.

Example
Let 4ABC be an acute triangle. Compute in terms of A, B, and C:

• ∠BOC

• ∠BIC

• ∠BHC

Example
Do the above except when A ≥ 90◦ .

6 Problems
Remember to look at exercise 6 in section 4 in order to prove a quadrilateral is cyclic!

Problem 1. If ∠BHC = ∠BIC = ∠BOC where H, I, and O are the orthocenter, incenter, and circumcenter
of 4ABC, respectively, find A.

Problem 2. Let 4ABC be an acute triangle. Let D, E, and F be the feet from A, B, and C to BC, CA,
and AB respectively. Let H be the orthocenter of 4ABC. Find as many cyclic quadrilaterals as you can!
(Hint: There are 6.)

Problem 3. Using the above notation, prove that H is the incenter of 4DEF . (Hint: Use some of the
cyclic quadrilaterals from Problem 2. Also look at exercise 1 in section 4.)

Problem 4 (2019 AMC10A/13). Let 4ABC be an isosceles triangle with BC = AC and ∠ACB = 40◦ .
Contruct the circle with diameter BC, and let D and E be the other intersection points of the circle with
the sides AC and AB, respectively. Let F be the intersection of the diagonals of the quadrilateral BCDE.
What is the degree measure of ∠BF C?

Problem 5. Let H be the orthocenter of acute 4ABC. Let HA be the reflection of H over BC. Prove
that HA lies on the circumcircle of 4ABC.
0
Problem 6. Let H be the orthocenter of acute 4ABC. Let HA be the reflection of H over the midpoint
0
of BC. Prove that HA lies on the circumcircle of 4ABC.