PRINCIPIA · THEOREM

Incenter–Excenter Lemma (chicken-claw)

Dependencies: Central ∠, arc, chord are pairwise equivalent (arc = central angle), Inscribed angles on same arc are equal; angle in a semicircle is right (inscribed angles on the same arc are equal), Exterior angle equals the sum of two non-adjacent interior angles (an exterior angle of a triangle = sum of the two non-adjacent interior angles), Isoceles converse: equal base angles ⇒ equal sides (equal angles ⇒\Rightarrow equal sides), Linear pair sums to 180° (a linear pair sums to 180∘180^\circ), Thales converse (right angle ⇒\Rightarrow on the circle whose diameter is the hypotenuse), Three perpendicular bisectors meet (circumcenter) (the circumscribed circle of three points is unique).

Statement

Let △ABC\triangle ABC be inscribed in ⊙O\odot O, II the incenter of △ABC\triangle ABC, and IaI_a the excenter opposite ∠A\angle A (i.e. the common point of the external bisectors of ∠B\angle B and ∠C\angle C with the internal bisector of ∠A\angle A). Extend the internal bisector of ∠A\angle A to meet ⊙O\odot O again at MM (i.e. the second intersection of the bisector of ∠BAC\angle BAC with ⊙O\odot O; geometrically, MM is the midpoint of arc BCBC not containing AA).

Then the four points BB, CC, II, IaI_a all lie on the same circle, with center MM and radius

ρ  =  ∣MI∣  =  ∣MB∣  =  ∣MC∣  =  ∣MIa∣.\rho \;=\; |MI| \;=\; |MB| \;=\; |MC| \;=\; |MI_a|.

In other words,

  ∣MI∣  =  ∣MB∣  =  ∣MC∣  =  ∣MIa∣.  \boxed{\;|MI| \;=\; |MB| \;=\; |MC| \;=\; |MI_a|.\;}

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This is colloquially called the chicken-claw theorem — with MM at the "claw center," the four points BB, CC, II, IaI_a resemble four equal-length claws.

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