PRINCIPIA · THEOREM

Triangle midsegment theorem

Dependencies: SAS congruence, Equal alternate angles ⇒ parallel, Parallelogram tests, Parallelogram properties (opposite sides equal, diagonals bisect each other).

Statement

Let △ABC\triangle ABC be given, and let DD, EE be the midpoints of ABAB, ACAC respectively. Then the segment DEDE joining the two midpoints (called the midsegment of △ABC\triangle ABC relative to side BCBC) satisfies

DE∥BC,DE=12 BC.DE \parallel BC, \qquad DE = \tfrac{1}{2}\,BC.

That is, the midsegment is parallel to the third side and exactly half its length.

Midsegment: in \triangle ABC, D, E are the midpoints of AB, AC ⇒ DE\parallel BC and DE=\tfrac12 BC

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