Properties and Attributes of Triangles

Medians, Altitudes, and Midsegments in Triangles

Key Objectives
Apply properties of medians, altitudes, and midsegments of a triangle.

Key Terms

A median of a triangle is a segment whose endpoints are a vertex of the triangle and the midpoint of the other side.
The point of concurrency of the medians of a triangle is the centroid of the triangle.
An altitude of a triangle is a perpendicular segment from a vertex to the line containing the opposite side.
The point of concurrency of the altitudes of a triangle is the orthocenter of a triangle.
A midsegment of a triangle is a segment that joins the midpoints of the two sides of the triangle.
Every triangle has three midsegments, which form the midsegment triangle.

Theorems, Postulates, Corollaries, and Properties

Centroid Theorem A triangle's centroid is located 2/3 of the distance from each vertex to the midpoint of the opposite
side.
Triangle Midsegment Theorem A midsegment of a triangle is parallel to a side of the triangle, and its length is half the
length of that side.
Medians, altitudes, and midsegments are types of line segments in triangles. Medians and altitudes are similar in that each has
an endpoint at a vertex and the other endpoint is on the opposite side of the triangle (or on the line containing the opposite
side). A midsegment does not have an endpoint at a vertex. Instead, both of a midsegment's endpoints are on sides of the
triangle. A midsegment extends from the midpoint of one side of the triangle to the midpoint of another side of the triangle.
Each triangle has three medians, three altitudes, and three midsegments. A triangle's three medians intersect at one point, the
centroid. Similarly, a triangle's three altitudes also intersect at one point, the orthocenter. However, a triangle's three midsegments
do not intersect at one point. Each midsegment does share an endpoint with another midsegment and the three midsegments
form another triangle, the midsegment triangle.

Example 1 Using Triangle Medians

PC is given to be a median. Therefore, by definition of
median, P is the midpoint of AB. It follows that AP PB,
and so AP = PB.
Expressions for AP and PB are given. Set these expressions
equal to each other and solve for x. Then, substitute the value
of x into the expression for PB to find PB.

The centroid of the triangle is the point of concurrency of the

medians of a triangle. In other words, the a triangle's centroid
is the point at which the triangle's three medians intersect.
By the Centroid Theorem, the centroid of a triangle is located
2/3 of the distance from each vertex to the midpoint of the
opposite side.
This theorem can be used to find the length of a median. For
example, suppose BP = 12. Then, since BP = (2/3)BZ, it
follows that 12 = (2/3)BZ, and so BZ = 18.

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Geometry

Example 2 Finding the Equation of a Median

Remember, the equation of a line can be written using the
coordinates of two points on that line.
A median is a segment whose endpoints are a vertex of the
triangle and the midpoint of the other side. In this example,
the median passes through vertex C. So, the median passes
through (4, 1). The side opposite of C is AB. So, the median
must pass through the midpoint of AB.
Use the midpoint formula to find the midpoint of AB: (0, 2).
Now that two points on the median are known, (4, 1) and
(0, 2), use the slope formula to find the slope of the line that
passes through those two points: m = 3/4.
Next, identify the y-intercept. Notice that the median passes
through (0, 2), which is a point on the y-axis. Therefore, the
y-intercept of the median is 2.
Use the slope and the y-intercept to write the equation of the
line.

Example 3 Finding the Equation of an Altitude

An altitude of a triangle is a perpendicular segment from a
vertex to the line containing the opposite side. So, an altitude
is similar to a median since they both pass through a vertex
and the opposite side. However, the median must pass through
the midpoint of that opposite side, but the altitude does not
necessarily pass through the midpoint of the opposite side.
The altitude passes through the point which makes the
segment perpendicular to the opposite side. The altitude and
median are the same line when that line is the perpendicular
bisector of the side opposite of the vertex.
As in the previous example, the coordinates of the vertex C,
(4, 1), can be used to write the equation of the line since
the altitude passes through C. Next, instead of finding the
midpoint of AB, find the slope of the line that is perpendicular
to AB. The slope of AB is 1/2. So, since perpendicular lines
have opposite reciprocal slopes, the slope of the line
perpendicular to AB is 2.
Now use point-slope form to write the equation of the altitude
through C.

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Properties and Attributes of Triangles

Example 4 Using the Triangle Midsegment Theorem

A midsegment of a triangle is a segment with endpoints at
the midpoints of two sides of a triangle. Every triangle has
three midsegments. These three midsegments form a triangle
called the midsegment triangle.
By the Triangle Midsegment Theorem, if a segment is a
midsegment, then the segment is parallel to a side of the
triangle and its length is half the length of that side.

In this example, it is given that XY is a midsegment of triangle

ABC. Use the definition of midsegment and the Triangle
Midsegment Theorem to find the missing lengths.
By the definition of midsegment, X is the midpoint of AB. It
follows that XA = XB, by the definition of midpoint. In the
figure, it is given that XB = 8. So, XA = 8 as well.

XY is a midsegment. So, by the Triangle Midsegment

Theorem, XY is half the length of AC. In the figure, it is given
that AC = 20. It follows that XY = (1/2)(20) = 10.

By the definition of midsegment, X is the midpoint of BC. It

follows that BY = YC, by the definition of midpoint. In the
figure, it is given that YC = 6. So, BY = 6 as well.

Here, the measure of an angle is to be found. By the Triangle

Midsegment Theorem, midsegment XY is parallel to AC.
Notice that PY is a transversal that passes through parallel
lines XY and AC. Therefore, the theorems and postulates
regarding corresponding, alternate interior, and alternate
exterior angles can be applied. Consider angles XYP and YPC.
These are alternate interior angles. Therefore, by the Alternate
Interior Angles Theorem, mXYP = mYPC. It is given that
mXYP = 25. So, mYPC = 25 as well.

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