WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

Doug-all Theorem II: Inscribed Triangles

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family
I
II
move triangle
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Consider the set of all equilateral triangles
PQR
inscribed about an arbitrary triangle
ABC
; that is, side
AB
contains
P
, side
BC
contains
Q
, and side
CA
contains
R
. By "side" we mean the full line, not just the line segment, so that, for instance, point
P
is not necessarily in between
A
and
B
. The Doug-all theorem (its author is not to be confused with the prestigious geometer John Dougall, who died in 1960) claims that there are infinitely many such inscribed triangles, and among them there is a smallest one. There are two families of triangles
PQR
, one that has triangles completely covering
ABC
and one never covering
ABC
. This Demonstration lets you experiment by dragging the vertices of the triangle or moving the inscribed equilateral triangle to verify the existence of the smallest inscribed triangle, which sometimes is outside the triangle!