Quadrilaterals inscribed in a circle

About this lesson

Geometry › Circles

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Quadrilaterals inscribed in a circle

Circles. inscribed angles, tangent lines, arc length, sector area, radians

Warm-up

Three quick questions from earlier lessons.

Discover

A quadrilateral has all four vertices on a circle. Opposite angles stand on arcs that together make the whole circle. What do opposite angles add to?

  1. 180∘180^\circ
  2. 360∘360^\circ

Move D around the circle. Add the angles at A and C.

  1. Always 180°
  2. Always 360°

Key idea

Cyclic quadrilaterals.

A quadrilateral inscribed in a circle has opposite angles supplementary. Conversely, if opposite angles add to 180∘180^\circ, the quadrilateral can be inscribed in a circle.

Worked example

∠A=75∘\angle A = 75^\circ, ∠B=110∘\angle B = 110^\circ.

∠C=105∘\angle C = 105^\circ
Opposite A.
∠D=70∘\angle D = 70^\circ
Opposite B.

Your turn, guided

Your turn: ∠P=98∘\angle P = 98^\circ in cyclic PQRSPQRS. Find ∠R\angle R.

82∘82^\circ
180 − 98.

Practice ★

  1. ABCDABCD is inscribed in a circle and ∠A=128∘\angle A = 128^\circ. Find ∠C\angle C (degrees).
  2. ABCDABCD is inscribed in a circle and ∠A=40∘\angle A = 40^\circ. Find ∠C\angle C (degrees).
  1. Which quadrilateral can always be inscribed in a circle?
    1. A rectangle (for example 9 by 11)
    2. Any parallelogram
    3. Any rhombus

Watch out!

Practice ★★

  1. PQRSPQRS is inscribed in a circle with ∠Q=113∘\angle Q = 113^\circ. Find ∠S\angle S (degrees).
  2. PQRSPQRS is inscribed in a circle with ∠Q=42∘\angle Q = 42^\circ. Find ∠S\angle S (degrees).

Exit ticket

Three questions to check you have got it.

  1. ABCDABCD is inscribed in a circle and ∠A=128∘\angle A = 128^\circ. Find ∠C\angle C (degrees).
  2. ABCDABCD is inscribed in a circle and ∠A=40∘\angle A = 40^\circ. Find ∠C\angle C (degrees).
  3. ABCDABCD is inscribed in a circle and ∠A=107∘\angle A = 107^\circ. Find ∠C\angle C (degrees).

Summary card

Cyclic quadrilaterals

Opposite angles add to 180∘180^\circ.

Watch out: supplementary, not equal.

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