Right angle (geometry)

From Citizendium
Revision as of 04:58, 18 August 2008 by imported>Miguel Adérito Trigueira (added missing part of demonstration, sp)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Diagram showing the definition of a right angle. The green parts are not part of the construction but show that the angles are both 90 degrees and equal to one another

In Euclidean geometry, a right angle, symbolized by the L-shaped figure , is created when two straight lines meet perpendicularly at 90 degrees to each other. The plus sign, +, consists of two such lines, and so the four angles at its heart are all right angles.

The right angle bisects the angle of the line into two equal parts.

The right angle is demonstrated:

Given a line DC with point B lying on it
Project a line from B through point A
Take B as the vertex of angle ABC
If the angle ABC equals the angle ABD
then angle ABC is a right angle,
and so is angle ABD