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A minor arc is an arc that measures less than 180. A major arc is an arc that measures greater than 180. A semicircle is an arc with endpoints that lie on a diameter.
mKM=160^(∘)
An arc is a portion of a circle defined by two endpoints. A central angle separates the circle into two arcs — the major arc and the minor arc. These measures of these arcs are related to the measure of the central angle.
Arc | Measure |
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A minor arc is the shortest arc connecting two endpoints on a circle. | The measure is less than 180 and is equal to the measure of its related central angle.
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A major arc is the longest arc connecting two endpoints on a circle. | The measure is greater than 180 and is equal to 360 minus the measure of the minor arc with the same endpoints.
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A semicircle is an arc with endpoints that lie on a diameter. | The measure of a semicircle is 180.
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The arc we are looking at is KM. It is the shortest arc that connects the endpoints K and M. Therefore, KM is a minor arc. To find it's measure, we will need to use the Arc Addition Postulate. With this postulate and knowing that mLMN=180^(∘) and mMN=120^(∘), we can find mLM.
Arc Addition Postulate | Substitute | Solve |
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mLM+mMN=mLMN | mLM+120=180 | mLM= 60 |
Let's add the obtained measure to our diagram.
Substitute values
Add terms
Rearrange equation