Congruence (geometry)

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An example of congruence. The two figures on the left are congruent, while the third is similar to them. The last figure is neither similar nor congruent to any of the others. Note that congruences alter some properties, such as location and orientation, but leave others unchanged, like distance and angles. The latter sort of properties are called invariants.

In geometry, two sets of points are called congruent if one can be transformed into the other by an isometry, i.e., a combination of translations, rotations and reflections. Less formally, two figures are congruent if they have the same shape and size, but are in different positions (for instance one may be rotated, flipped, or simply placed somewhere else).

[edit] Definition of congruence in analytic geometry

In a Euclidean system, congruence is fundamental; it is the counterpart of equality for numbers. In analytic geometry, congruence may be defined intuitively thus: two mappings of figures onto one Cartesian coordinate system are congruent if and only if, for any two points in the first mapping, the Euclidean distance between them is equal to the Euclidean distance between the corresponding points in the second mapping.

A more formal definition: two subsets A and B of Euclidean space Rⁿ are called congruent if there exists an isometry f : Rⁿ → Rⁿ (an element of the Euclidean group E(n)) with f(A) = B. Congruence is an equivalence relation.

[edit] Congruence of triangles

Two triangles are congruent if their corresponding sides are equal in length and their corresponding angles are equal in size.

If triangle ABC is congruent to triangle DEF, the relationship can be written mathematically as:

In many cases it is sufficient to establish the equality of three corresponding parts and use one of the following results to deduce the congruence of the two triangles.

The shape of a triangle is determined up to congruence by specifying two sides and the angle between them (SAS), two angles and the side between them (ASA) or two angles and a corresponding adjacent side (AAS). Specifying two sides and an adjacent angle (SSA), however, can yield two distinct possible triangles.

[edit] Determining congruence

Sufficient evidence for congruence between two triangles in Euclidean space can be shown through the following comparisons:

• SAS (Side-Angle-Side): If two pairs of sides of two triangles are equal in length, and the included angles are equal in measurement, then the triangles are congruent.
• SSS (Side-Side-Side): If three pairs of sides of two triangles are equal in length, then the triangles are congruent.
• ASA (Angle-Side-Angle): If two pairs of angles of two triangles are equal in measurement, and the included sides are equal in length, then the triangles are congruent.
  The ASA Postulate was contributed by Thales of Miletus (Greek). In most systems of axioms, the three criteria—SAS, SSS and ASA—are established as theorems. In the School Mathematics Study Group system SAS is taken as one (#15) of 22 postulates.
• AAS (Angle-Angle-Side): If two pairs of angles of two triangles are equal in measurement, and a pair of corresponding non-included sides are equal in length, then the triangles are congruent.

[edit] Side-Side-Angle

The SSA condition (Side-Side-Angle) which specifies two sides and a non-included angle (also known as ASS, or Angle-Side-Side by high school kids) does not always prove congruence, even when the equal angles are opposite equal sides.

Specifically, SSA does not prove congruence when the angle is acute and the opposite side is shorter than the known adjacent side but longer than the sine of the angle times the adjacent side. This is the ambiguous case. In all other cases with corresponding equalities, SSA proves congruence. (Notice that the opposite side cannot be smaller than the adjacent side times the sine of the angle as this could not describe a triangle.)

The SSA condition proves congruence if the angle is obtuse or right. In the case of the right angle (also known as the HL (Hypotenuse-Leg) condition), we can calculate the third side and fall back on SSS.

The SSA condition proves congruence if the angle is acute and the opposite side either equals the adjacent side times the sine of the angle (right triangle) or is longer than the adjacent side.

To establish congruence, it is also necessary to check that the equal angles are opposite equal sides.

[edit] Angle-Angle-Angle

AAA (Angle-Angle-Angle) says nothing about the size of the two triangles and hence proves only similarity and not congruence in Euclidean space. However, in spherical geometry and hyperbolic geometry (where angle is a function of size) this is sufficient for congruence on a given curvature. ^[1]

[edit] See also

• Euclidean plane isometry
• CPCTC

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The SSS
• The SSA
• Interactive animations demonstrating Congruent angles, Congruent line segments, Congruent triangles, Congruent polygons