Which has the greatest area, a circle or a square inscribed in an
isosceles, right angle triangle?
A picture is made by joining five small quadrilaterals together to
make a large quadrilateral. Is it possible to draw a similar
picture if all the small quadrilaterals are cyclic?
The circumcentres of four triangles are joined to form a
quadrilateral. What do you notice about this quadrilateral as the
dynamic image changes? Can you prove your conjecture?
What is the same and what is different about these circle
questions? What connections can you make?
ABCD is a rectangle and P, Q, R and S are moveable points on the
edges dividing the edges in certain ratios. Strangely PQRS is
always a cyclic quadrilateral and you can find the angles.
Two semi-circles (each of radius 1/2) touch each other, and a semi-circle of radius 1 touches both of them. Find the radius of the circle which touches all three semi-circles.
An equilateral triangle is sitting on top of a square.
What is the radius of the circle that circumscribes this shape?
This set of resources for teachers offers interactive environments
which support work on properties of angles in circles at Key Stage
A small circle in a square in a big circle in a trapezium. Using
the measurements and clue given, find the area of the trapezium.
You are given a circle with centre O. Describe how to construct with a straight edge and a pair of compasses, two other circles centre O so that the three circles have areas in the ratio 1:2:3.
Investigate the properties of quadrilaterals which can be drawn
with a circle just touching each side and another circle just
touching each vertex.
A circle is inscribed in a triangle which has side lengths of 8, 15
and 17 cm. What is the radius of the circle?
A and B are two fixed points on a circle and RS is a variable diamater. What is the locus of the intersection P of AR and BS?
ABCD is a square. P is the midpoint of AB and is joined to C. A line from D perpendicular to PC meets the line at the point Q. Prove AQ = AD.
M is any point on the line AB. Squares of side length AM and MB are
constructed and their circumcircles intersect at P (and M). Prove
that the lines AD and BE produced pass through P.
Find the missing angle between the two secants to the circle when
the two angles at the centre subtended by the arcs created by the
intersections of the secants and the circle are 50 and 120 degrees.
This gives a short summary of the properties and theorems of cyclic quadrilaterals and links to some practical examples to be found elsewhere on the site.
A circle has centre O and angle POR = angle QOR. Construct tangents
at P and Q meeting at T. Draw a circle with diameter OT. Do P and Q
lie inside, or on, or outside this circle?
A triangle PQR, right angled at P, slides on a horizontal floor
with Q and R in contact with perpendicular walls. What is the locus
Six circles around a central circle make a flower. Watch the flower
as you change the radii in this circle packing. Prove that with the
given ratios of the radii the petals touch and fit perfectly.
In the diagram the point P' can move to different places along the
dotted line. Each position P' takes will fix a corresponding
position for P. If P' moves along a straight line what does P do ?
In the diagram the point P can move to different places around the
dotted circle. Each position P takes will fix a corresponding
position for P'. As P moves around on that circle what will P' do?
Can you make a right-angled triangle on this peg-board by joining
up three points round the edge?
The sides of a triangle are 25, 39 and 40 units of length. Find the diameter of the circumscribed circle.
Two semicircle sit on the diameter of a semicircle centre O of
twice their radius. Lines through O divide the perimeter into two
parts. What can you say about the lengths of these two parts?
Two intersecting circles have a common chord AB. The point C moves
on the circumference of the circle C1. The straight lines CA and CB
meet the circle C2 at E and F respectively. As the point C. . . .
Four rods of equal length are hinged at their endpoints to form a
rhombus. The diagonals meet at X. One edge is fixed, the opposite
edge is allowed to move in the plane. Describe the locus of. . . .
Triangle ABC is right angled at A and semi circles are drawn on all three sides producing two 'crescents'. Show that the sum of the areas of the two crescents equals the area of triangle ABC.
Points D, E and F are on the the sides of triangle ABC.
Circumcircles are drawn to the triangles ADE, BEF and CFD
respectively. What do you notice about these three circumcircles?
Two circles intersect at A and B. Points C and D move round one
circle. CA and DB cut the other circle at E and F. What do you
notice about the line segments CD and EF?
Jennifer Piggott and Charlie Gilderdale describe a free interactive
circular geoboard environment that can lead learners to pose