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TheoremsandPropertiesList

TheoremsandPostulatesfor
Geometry
GeometryIndex|RegentsExamPrepCenter

Thisisapartiallistingofthemorepopulartheorems,postulatesandproperties
neededwhenworkingwithEuclideanproofs.Youneedtohaveathoroughunderstandingof
theseitems.
Yourtextbook(andyourteacher)maywantyouto
rememberthesetheoremswithslightlydifferentwording.
Besuretofollowthedirectionsfromyourteacher.

The"Ineedtoknow,now!"entriesarehighlightedinblue.

General:
ReflexiveProperty
SymmetricProperty
TransitiveProperty

Aquantityiscongruent(equal)toitself.a=a
Ifa=b,thenb=a.
Ifa=bandb=c,thena=c.

AdditionPostulate

Ifequalquantitiesareaddedtoequalquantities,thesumsare
equal.
Ifequalquantitiesaresubtractedfromequalquantities,the
differencesareequal.
Ifequalquantitiesaremultipliedbyequalquantities,the
productsareequal.(alsoDoublesofequalquantitiesare
equal.)
Ifequalquantitiesaredividedbyequalnonzeroquantities,the
quotientsareequal.(alsoHalvesofequalquantitiesareequal.)
Aquantitymaybesubstitutedforitsequalinanyexpression.

SubtractionPostulate
MultiplicationPostulate
DivisionPostulate
SubstitutionPostulate
PartitionPostulate
Construction
Construction

Thewholeisequaltothesumofitsparts.
Also:BetweenessofPoints:AB+BC=AC
AngleAdditionPostulate:m<ABC+m<CBD=m<ABD
Twopointsdetermineastraightline.

Fromagivenpointon(ornoton)aline,oneandonlyone
perpendicularcanbedrawntotheline.

Angles:

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Allrightanglesarecongruent.

Allstraightanglesarecongruent.
StraightAngles

Supplementsofthesameangle,orcongruentangles,are
CongruentSupplements congruent.
Complementsofthesameangle,orcongruentangles,are
CongruentComplements
congruent.
Iftwoanglesformalinearpair,theyaresupplementary.
LinearPair

Verticalanglesarecongruent.
VerticalAngles

Thesumoftheinterioranglesofatriangleis180.
TriangleSum

Themeasureofanexteriorangleofatriangleisequaltothe
sumofthemeasuresofthetwononadjacentinteriorangles.
ExteriorAngle
Themeasureofanexteriorangleofatriangleisgreaterthan
eithernonadjacentinteriorangle.
Iftwosidesofatrianglearecongruent,theanglesopposite
BaseAngleTheorem
thesesidesarecongruent.
(IsoscelesTriangle)
Iftwoanglesofatrianglearecongruent,thesidesopposite
BaseAngleConverse
theseanglesarecongruent.
(IsoscelesTriangle)

RightAngles

Triangles:

SideSideSide(SSS)
Congruence

Ifthreesidesofonetrianglearecongruenttothreesidesof
anothertriangle,thenthetrianglesarecongruent.

Iftwosidesandtheincludedangleofonetriangleare
congruenttothecorrespondingpartsofanothertriangle,the
trianglesarecongruent.
AngleSideAngle(ASA) Iftwoanglesandtheincludedsideofonetriangleare
congruenttothecorrespondingpartsofanothertriangle,the
Congruence
trianglesarecongruent.
AngleAngleSide(AAS) Iftwoanglesandthenonincludedsideofonetriangleare
congruenttothecorrespondingpartsofanothertriangle,the
Congruence
trianglesarecongruent.
Ifthehypotenuseandlegofonerighttrianglearecongruentto
HypotenuseLeg(HL)
thecorrespondingpartsofanotherrighttriangle,thetworight
Congruence(right
trianglesarecongruent.

SideAngleSide(SAS)
Congruence

triangle)
CPCTC
AngleAngle(AA)
Similarity
SSSforSimilarity
SASforSimilarity

Correspondingpartsofcongruenttrianglesarecongruent.
Iftwoanglesofonetrianglearecongruenttotwoanglesof
anothertriangle,thetrianglesaresimilar.
Ifthethreesetsofcorrespondingsidesoftwotrianglesarein
proportion,thetrianglesaresimilar.
Ifanangleofonetriangleiscongruenttothecorresponding
angleofanothertriangleandthelengthsofthesidesincluding
theseanglesareinproportion,thetrianglesaresimilar.
Iftwotrianglesaresimilar,thecorrespondingsidesarein

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TheoremsandPropertiesList

SideProportionality
MidsegmentTheorem
(alsocalledmidline)

SumofTwoSides
LongestSide
AltitudeRule
LegRule

proportion.
Thesegmentconnectingthemidpointsoftwosidesofa
triangleisparalleltothethirdsideandishalfaslong.
Thesumofthelengthsofanytwosidesofatrianglemustbe
greaterthanthethirdside
Inatriangle,thelongestsideisacrossfromthelargestangle.
Inatriangle,thelargestangleisacrossfromthelongestside.
Thealtitudetothehypotenuseofarighttriangleisthemean
proportionalbetweenthesegmentsintowhichitdividesthe
hypotenuse.
Eachlegofarighttriangleisthemeanproportionalbetween
thehypotenuseandtheprojectionofthelegonthe
hypotenuse.

Parallels:
CorrespondingAngles

Iftwoparallellinesarecutbyatransversal,thenthepairsof
correspondinganglesarecongruent.
Iftwolinesarecutbyatransversalandthecorresponding
anglesarecongruent,thelinesareparallel.

CorrespondingAngles
Converse
AlternateInteriorAngles Iftwoparallellinesarecutbyatransversal,thenthealternate
interioranglesarecongruent.

AlternateExteriorAngles Iftwoparallellinesarecutbyatransversal,thenthealternate
exterioranglesarecongruent.
Iftwoparallellinesarecutbyatransversal,theinterior
anglesonthesamesideofthetransversalaresupplementary.
AlternateInteriorAngles Iftwolinesarecutbyatransversalandthealternateinterior
anglesarecongruent,thelinesareparallel.
Converse

InteriorsonSameSide

AlternateExteriorAngles Iftwolinesarecutbyatransversalandthealternateexterior
anglesarecongruent,thelinesareparallel.
Converse
InteriorsonSameSide
Converse

Iftwolinesarecutbyatransversalandtheinteriorangleson
thesamesideofthetransversalaresupplementary,thelines
areparallel.

Quadrilaterals:
*Ifaquadrilateralisaparallelogram,the

Parallelograms

opposite
sidesareparallel.
AboutSides
*Ifaquadrilateralisaparallelogram,the

opposite
sidesarecongruent.
*Ifaquadrilateralisaparallelogram,the
opposite
About
anglesarecongruent.
Angles
*Ifaquadrilateralisaparallelogram,the
consecutiveanglesaresupplementary.

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*Ifaquadrilateralisaparallelogram,the
diagonals
About
bisecteachother.
Diagonals Ifaquadrilateralisaparallelogram,the
*
diagonals
formtwocongruenttriangles.
*Ifbothpairsofoppositesidesofa
quadrilateral
areparallel,thequadrilateralisa
parallelogram.
AboutSides *Ifbothpairsofoppositesidesofa

quadrilateral
arecongruent,thequadrilateralisa
ParallelogramConverses
parallelogram.
*Ifbothpairsofoppositeanglesofa

quadrilateral
arecongruent,thequadrilateralisa

About
parallelogram.
Angles

*Iftheconsecutiveanglesofaquadrilateralare
supplementary,thequadrilateralisa

parallelogram.
*Ifthediagonalsofaquadrilateralbisecteach
other,thequadrilateralisa
About
Diagonals parallelogram.
*Ifthediagonalsofaquadrilateralformtwo

congruenttriangles,thequadrilateralisa
parallelogram.
IfonepairofsidesofaquadrilateralisBOTHparalleland
Parallelogram
congruent,thequadrilateralisaparallelogram.
Ifaparallelogramhasonerightangleitisarectangle
Aparallelogramisarectangleifandonlyifitsdiagonalsare
Rectangle
congruent.
Arectangleisaparallelogramwithfourrightangles.
Arhombusisaparallelogramwithfourcongruentsides.
Ifaparallelogramhastwoconsecutivesidescongruent,itisa
rhombus.
Rhombus
Aparallelogramisarhombusifandonlyifeachdiagonal
bisectsapairofoppositeangles.
Aparallelogramisarhombusifandonlyifthediagonalsare
perpendicular.
Asquareisaparallelogramwithfourcongruentsidesandfour
rightangles.
Square
Aquadrilateralisasquareifandonlyifitisarhombusanda
rectangle.
Atrapezoidisaquadrilateralwithexactlyonepairofparallel
Trapezoid
sides.
Anisoscelestrapezoidisatrapezoidwithcongruentlegs.
Atrapezoidisisoscelesifandonlyifthebaseanglesare
congruent
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IsoscelesTrapezoid

Atrapezoidisisoscelesifandonlyifthediagonalsare
congruent
Ifatrapezoidisisosceles,theoppositeanglesare
supplementary.

Circles:

Radius

Chords

Tangents
Arcs

Angles

Inacircle,aradiusperpendiculartoachordbisectsthechord
andthearc.
Inacircle,aradiusthatbisectsachordisperpendiculartothe
chord.
Inacircle,theperpendicularbisectorofachordpasses
throughthecenterofthecircle.
Ifalineistangenttoacircle,itisperpendiculartotheradius
drawntothepointoftangency.
Inacircle,orcongruentcircles,congruentchordsare
equidistantfromthecenter.(andconverse)
Inacircle,orcongruentcircles,congruentchordshave
congruentarcs.(andconverse0
Inacircle,parallelchordsinterceptcongruentarcs
Inthesamecircle,orcongruentcircles,congruentcentral
angleshavecongruentchords(andconverse)
Tangentsegmentstoacirclefromthesameexternalpointare
congruent
Inthesamecircle,orcongruentcircles,congruentcentral
angleshavecongruentarcs.(andconverse)
Anangleinscribedinasemicircleisarightangle.
Inacircle,inscribedanglesthatinterceptthesamearcare
congruent.
Theoppositeanglesinacyclicquadrilateralare
supplementary
Inacircle,orcongruentcircles,congruentcentralangleshave
congruentarcs.

GeometryIndex|RegentsExamPrepCenter
CreatedbyDonnaRoberts
Copyright19982012http://regentsprep.org
OswegoCitySchoolDistrictRegentsExamPrepCenter

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