How the Altitude Divides the Hypotenuse
How the Altitude Divides the Hypotenuse
Draw the altitude to the hypotenuse of a right triangle. Then each leg is the geometric mean of the hypotenuse and the segment of the hypotenuse adjacent to that leg: and . Also, the length of the altitude is the geometric mean of the two segments: .
AB=
AC×AD
BC=
AC×DC
BD=
AD×DC
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