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VIII 2012 - Lecture 2 M.Prakash Academy

We are now equipped to compare two triangles and define their
congruence. Two triangles with a given correspondence are said to
be congruent if and only if their corresponding angles are congru-
ent and their corresponding sides are congruent.
Consider △LM N and △DEF . We say that these two triangles are
congruent and denote it by △LM N ∼ = △DEF if and only if
1. ∠L ∼= ∠D 2. ∠M ∼ = ∠E 3. ∠N ∼= ∠F .
∼
4. LM = DE ∼
5. M N = EF ∼
6. N L = F D
Remark:
1. When we say that △LM N ∼ = △DEF , it is understood that the
correspondence considered is LM N ↔ DEF .
2. Carefully note that the phrase if and only if in the above defi-
nition is used to indicate:
(i) If two triangles are given to be congruent, then by the above def-
inition we can say that all the six pairs of corresponding elements
are congruent.
(ii) If six elements of one triangle are congruent with corresponding
elements of another triangle then by the above definition, we can
say that the two triangles are congruent.
We will come across situations where we need to figure out whether
given triangles are congruent.
Do we always need to check all these six quantities to ensure that
two triangles are congruent?
Are there any efficient ways? How many efficient ways are there?
A Teacher’s Dilemma:
A teacher is teaching a class of 40 students. She has assigned them
some homework and on the next day she wants to know whether
each student has done the homework. She checks homework of say
30 or 35 or even 39 students and finds that all these students have
completed the homework. Can she say that all students have com-
pleted homework? What do you think?
Of course not! Unless she checks the homework of every student,
she cannot make such statement. There is no way by which she
can check homework of less than 40 students and make a statement
about the homework of the entire class.
In short, there is no efficient way of deciding the status of home-
work of the entire class.
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On the other hand, think of divisibility test by 5. We want to

find out whether a given natural number, howsoever big, is divisible
by 5. If the number has 0 or 5 at its unit’s place, without actually
dividing the number, we are sure that the number is divisible by 5.
Thus divisibility test by 5 is very efficient.
Let us try to find out how efficiently can we construct a triangle
congruent to a given triangle. Let us play the following game.
Game1:
I have drawn a triangle in my notebook. If I give you all its sides
and angles, you can definitely construct an identical copy of it. But
each piece of information costs Rs.100. So if you ask for all the six
elements, you will have to pay Rs.600. Can you construct the con-
gruent triangle at a price less than 600?
What is the minimum amount you need to spend?
Here is the step-by-step information about △P QR in my notebook.
1.Length of QR is 6 c.m. Is it possible to get identical copy of
△P QR? (Current Cost - Rs. 100)
2. In addition, let me tell you that m∠Q = 65. Is it now possible
to construct the required triangle? (Current Cost - Rs. 200)
3.Another side P Q is 7c.m. Is it possible to get congruent triangle
now? (Current Cost - Rs. 300)
We observe that a triangle congruent to given triangle can be con-
structed by knowing only three of the six elements.
Let us play one more game.
Game2:
I have another △LM N in my notebook. Can you copy that by
spending Rs. 300 from the following information?
1. m∠M = 20.
(Current Cost - Rs. 100)
2. Length of side M N is 8 c.m. Can you now construct the re-
quired triangle? (Current Cost - Rs. 200).
3. Side LN is given to be 5 c.m. Is is possible to construct the
triangle now? (Current Cost - Rs. 300)
What happens? In game 2, we notice that we can draw two non-
congruent triangles with the given information. So we learn that
to cut the cost to Rs.300, we need to choose the three elements
carefully. In general, any three elements need not help in con-
structing identical copy of a given triangle.
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We invite you to find out number of ways in which three elements

can be chosen from six elements of a triangle.
Only angles considered - AAA.
Only sides considered - SSS.
Two sides and one angle considered - SAS, SSA.
Two angles and one side considered - ASA, AAS.
Do all these selections lead to identical copy of a given triangle?
We list below the five efficiency criteria to determine whether
given two triangles are congruent.
1. Side-Angle-Side (SAS) Congruence Criterion:
A Correspondence between two triangles is given. If two sides and
included angle of a triangle are congruent with corresponding two
sides and included angle of another triangle, then triangles are con-
gruent. We will refer to this as SAS Congruence Criterion.

A P

B * Q
* R
C

Restatement: Consider the correspondence ABC ↔ P QR. If

(i) AB ∼ = P Q,
(ii) Included ∠ABC ∼ = included ∠P QR and
(iii) BC ∼= QR.
Then ∆ABC ∼ = ∆P QR by SAS Congruence Criterion.
Hence by definition of congruent triangles we deduce that:
(i) CA ∼ = RP by C.S.C.T.
(ii) ∠BCA ∼ = ∠QRP by C.A.C.T.
∼
(ii) ∠CAB = ∠RP Q by C.A.C.T.
Note:
(i) C.S.C.T. means Corresponding Sides of Congruent Triangles.
(ii) C.A.C.T. means Corresponding Angles of Congruent Triangles.
2. Angle-Side-Angle (ASA) Congruence Criterion:
A Correspondence between two triangles is given. If two angles
and included side of a triangle are congruent with corresponding
two angles and included side of another triangle, then the triangles
are congruent. We will refer to this as ASA Congruence Criterion.
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A P

o o
B * Q
* R
C
Restatement: Consider the correspondence ABC ↔ P QR. If
(i) ∠ABC ∼ = ∠P QR,
(ii) included side BC ∼
= included side QR and
(iii) ∠BCA ∼ = ∠QRP .
Then ∆ABC ∼ = ∆P QR by ASA Congruence Criterion.
Hence by definition of congruent triangles we deduce that:
(i) AB ∼ = P Q by C.S.C.T.
(ii) CA ∼= RP by C.S.C.T.
(iii) ∠CAB ∼ = ∠RP Q by C.A.C.T.
3. Side-Angle-Angle (SAA) Congruence Criterion:
A Correspondence between two triangles is given. If two angles and
a side not common to these angles of the first triangle are congru-
ent with corresponding elements of the second triangle, then the
triangles are congruent. We will refer to this as SAA Congruence
Criterion.
A P

o o
B * Q
* R
C
Restatement: Consider the correspondence ABC ↔ P QR. If
(i) AB ∼= P Q,
(ii) ∠ABC ∼ = ∠P QR and
(iii) ∠BCA ∼ = ∠QRP .
Then ∆ABC ∼ = ∆P QR by SAA Congruence Criterion.
Hence by definition of congruent triangles we deduce that:
(i) BC ∼= QR by C.S.C.T.
(ii) CA ∼= RP by C.S.C.T.
(iii) ∠CAB ∼ = ∠RP Q by C.A.C.T.
4. Side-Side-Side (SSS) Congruence Criterion:
A Correspondence between two triangles is given. If all the three
sides of a triangle are congruent with corresponding three sides of
another triangle, then triangles are congruent. We will refer to this
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as SSS Congruence Criterion.

A P

B C Q R
Restatement: Consider the correspondence ABC ↔ P QR. If
(i) AB ∼= P Q.
(ii)BC ∼= QR and
(iii) CA ∼
= RP .
Then ∆ABC ∼ = ∆P QR by SSS Congruence Criterion.
Hence by definition of congruent triangles we deduce that:
(i) ∠ABC ∼ = ∠P QR by C.A.C.T.
(ii) ∠BCA ∼ = ∠QRP by C.A.C.T.
(iii) ∠CAB ∼ = ∠RP Q by C.A.C.T.
5. Right angle-Hypotenuse-Side (RHS) Congruence Cri-
terion:
This criteria is applicable in case of only right angled trian-
gles.
A Correspondence between two triangles is given. If hypotenuse
and one of the remaining sides of a right angled triangle are con-
gruent with hypotenuse and corresponding side of another right
angled triangle, then the triangles are congruent. We will refer to
this as RHS Congruence Criterion.
A P

B C Q R
Restatement: Consider the correspondence ABC ↔ P QR. If
(i) m∠ABC = 90 =m∠P QR, (ii) hypt CA ∼ = hypt RP and
∼
(iii) BC = QR.
Then ∆ABC ∼ = ∆P QR by RHS Congruence Criterion.
Hence by definition of congruent triangles we deduce that:
(i) AB ∼= P Q by C.S.C.T., (ii) ∠BCA ∼ = ∠QRP by C.A.C.T.
∼
(iii) ∠CAB = ∠RP Q by C.A.C.T.
Application of the Congruence Criteria:
P1: Consider a square ABCD. E is a point in the interior of
2ABCD such that △EAB is equilateral.
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Prove that EC ∼
= ED.
Solution:
D C

60

30 30

60 60
A B

As △EAB is equilateral, m∠EAB = 60.

As 2ABCD is a square, m∠DAB = 90.
As E is in the interior of 2ABCD, m∠DAB = m∠DAE+m∠EAB.
Hence we deduce that m∠DAE = 30.
Similarly we can prove that m∠CBE = 30.
Thus we conclude that ∠DAE ∼ = ∠CBE. · · · (1)
As 2ABCD is a square and △EAB is equilateral with common
side AB, we deduce that
AB ∼ = BC ∼= CD ∼ = DA ∼ = EA ∼= EB. · · · (2)
Consider the correspondence DAE ↔ CBE. We note that
(i) DA ∼ = CB· · · by (2).
(ii) included ∠DAE ∼ = included ∠CBE· · · by (1).
(iii)EA ∼= EB· · · by (2).
Hence by (i), (ii), (iii) and SAS Congruence criterion,
we conclude that
△DAE ∼ = △CBE.
Hence by C.S.C.T., we deduce that ED ∼ = EC.
Hurray! We have successfully solved the given problem.
Should we leave this problem here and move on to the next?
No. It would be a mistake to do so.
Every problem offers number of learning opportunities.
In the context of this problem one could compute:
(i) measures of various angles occurring in the figure.
(ii) areas of various triangles occurring in the figure.
A good student will always use every problem to go beyond the
given assignment and let his/her creativity blossom.
Homework:
Dear Student,
You are here to enjoy and play with mathematics.
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The homework given to you is designed specially so that you can

learn on your own and think independently.
So while doing the homework, we expect you to work on your own
and solve all the problems.
If you get stuck at a problem, spend more time with it, take more
efforts. In spite of all your trials, if you are unable to solve the
problem, you can discuss with your friends or seniors or parents.
Even while taking others’ help, don’t ask them for answers directly;
ask for hints and continue solving.
But remember, if you take somebody’s help without efforts of your
own, only your hands are getting exercise (by copying somebody’s
thought) while you are expected to give exercise to your brain and
strengthen it.
Solution of each problem should be written on a separate page. If
you have some space left on a page after writing the complete so-
lution, leave it as it is. In case you get to know different solutions
from your friends or teachers, you can write those solutions in that
space.
While writing the solutions, draw neat and clean diagrams wherever
needed and write all the details. What will you do once you have
completed the solutions of a given problem? A good students will
explore and discover several properties related to the given problem
and will carefully document those.
This collection of solutions of all the homework problems will be
very useful for you to revise the syllabus when you prepare for the
test.
Note that you have to write a selection test on the last day and
your ability to work independently will definitely help you in doing
well in the exam.
Here we go !!
H1: It is given that △ABC ∼ = △P QR. D is the midpoint of BC
and S is the midpoint of QR. Show that △ABD ∼ = △P QS by
using a suitable criterion of congruence.
Hence deduce that median AD ∼ = median P S.
H2: It is given that △LM N ∼ = △XY Z. LP is the altitude of
△LM N from L and XW is the altitude of △XY Z from X. Show
that △LM P ∼ = △XY W by using a suitable congruence criterion.
Hence deduce that altitude LP ∼ = altitude XW .
H3: It is given that △DEF ∼ = △U V W . DK is the bisector of ∠D
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and K lies on EF . U X is the bisector of ∠U and X lies on V W . Use

a suitable congruence criterion to show that △DEK ∼ = △U V X.
∼
Hence deduce that angle bisector DK = angle bisector U X.
H4: Consider ∠LM N . Let ray M K be the bisector of ∠LM N .
Let P be any point on ray M K. Draw P A perpendicular to ray
M L with A on ray M L. Draw P B perpendicular to ray M N with
B on ray M N . Using suitable criterion of congruence, show that
△P M A ∼= △P M B.
H5: Consider a circle with center J. Let KL be a chord of the
circle other than diameter. Draw JM perpendicular to KL with
M lying on KL. Show that △JKM ∼ = △JLM by using a suitable
congruence criterion. Hence deduce that M is the mid point of
KL.
H6: Consider a circle with center J. Let KL be a chord of the
circle other than diameter. Let M be the mid point of KL. Show
that △JKM ∼ = △JLM by using a suitable congruence criterion.
Hence deduce that JM is perpendicular to KL.