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Conway triangle notation

Notation for trigonometric relationships From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In geometry, the Conway triangle notation simplifies and clarifies the algebraic expression of various trigonometric relationships in a triangle. Using the symbol S for twice the triangle's area, the symbol Sφ is defined to mean S times the cotangent of any arbitrary angle φ.

The notation is named after English mathematician John Horton Conway,[1] who promoted its use, but essentially the same notation (using p instead of S) can be found in an 1894 paper by Spanish mathematician Juan Jacobo Durán Loriga [gl].[2]

Definition

Given a reference triangle whose sides are a, b and c and whose corresponding internal angles are A, B, and C then the Conway triangle notation is simply represented as follows: where[3][4]

Basic formulas

In particular:

where ω is the Brocard angle. The law of cosines is used:

Third-, double-, and half-angle identities:

for values of φ where 0 < φ < π,

Furthermore the convention uses a shorthand notation for and

Trigonometric relationships

Important identities

where

R is the circumradius
r is the incenter

Trigonometric conversions

Useful formulas

Applications

Let D be the distance between two points P and Q whose trilinear coordinates are Let Then D is given by the formula:[5]

Distance between circumcenter and orthocenter

Using this formula it is possible to determine |OH|, the distance between the circumcenter and the orthocenter as follows:

For the circumcenter

and for the orthocenter

Hence:

Thus,[6]

See also

References

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