Tag Archives: Steiner deltoid

Three-Cornered Deltoids

[This is the third and final post in this series on triangle geometry. See the previous posts on Morley’s theorem and the 9-point circle.]

For our final exploration in this series, let’s again begin with our triangle ABC and a point P on the circumcircle of the triangle, i.e., the circle through the three vertices. If we drop P directly onto the three lines of the triangle at right angles[1], then by coincidence, these three points lie on a single line, called the Simson line of point P.

The Simson line of point P in triangle ABC

Just for fun, let’s draw point Q diametrically opposite from P on the circumcircle, and let’s also look at Q‘s Simson line. How do these two Simson lines interact? Somewhat surprisingly, these lines intersect at right angles. The phenomenal part is that this point of intersection lies on the 9-point circle!

Two opposite Simson lines

Furthermore, as P and Q move around the circumcircle, the intersection of their Simson lines moves around the 9-point circle at twice the speed and in the opposite direction:

Simson lines tracing the 9-point circle

This story gets even more unbelievable when we look at how the Simson lines move in this animation. As it turns out, the Simson lines trace a curve in the shape of a deltoid, which is like an equilateral triangle with curved sides[2]. The deltoid traced here is called Steiner’s deltoid.

Simson lines trace the Steiner deltoid

And finally, here’s an incredible fact that ties everything together: If we draw the equilateral triangle around this deltoid, then the edges are parallel to the edges of the equilateral Morley triangle(s).

Steiner deltoid and Morley triangle

Holy Morley!


Notes

  1. Note that we may have to extend the lines beyond the triangle. []
  2. Specifically, a deltoid is the shape that results when you roll a circle inside a circle three-times larger and trace the path of a single point. See Wikipedia:Deltoid_curve for more information. []