McGraw Hill Integrated II, 2012
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McGraw Hill Integrated II, 2012 View details
4. Proving Triangles Congruent-ASA, AAS
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Exercise 16 Page 369

Practice makes perfect
a The question is asking about the congruence of triangles △ ABC and △ ABD. Let's highlight these triangles on the diagram. Let's also indicate that the segment AB bisects angles ∠ CBD and ∠ CAD.

Angle bisectors cut an angle into two congruent angles. This means that triangles △ ABC and △ ABD have two congruent angle pairs. ∠ CAB&≅ ∠ DAB ∠ ABC&≅ ∠ ABD Since side AB is included in both triangles and is therefore congruent, we have two congruent angles and a congruent side. The Angle-Side-Angle (ASA) Congruence Postulate implies that the two triangles are congruent. △ ABC≅△ ABD

b We now want to prove that triangles △ CAF and △ DAE are congruent. Let's focus on the congruent triangles mentioned in the question, △ ABC and △ ABD, and mark the given angle congruence and the congruent corresponding sides.

Notice that at vertex A two intersecting straight lines form a vertical angle pair. These angles are also congruent, so let's indicate this on the diagram.

We can see that triangles △ CAF and △ DAE have two pairs of congruent angles. It is also marked on the diagram that the included side is also congruent. Hence, the Angle-Side-Angle (ASA) Congruence Postulate implies that the two triangles are congruent. △ CAF≅△ DAE

c Last, we want to prove the congruence of triangles △ BHG and △ BEA. Let's focus on the triangles mentioned in the question and mark the given congruences on the diagram.

Let's summarize what we know about triangles △ BHG and △ BEA.

  • It is given that HB≅ EB.
  • It is given that ∠ BHG≅ ∠ BEA.
  • We can also see that angles ∠ BGH and ∠ BAE are put together from congruent angles. This means that they have the same shape and size, so they are congruent.

∠ BGH≅ ∠ BAE We can see that triangles △ BHG and △ BEA have two pairs of congruent angles and a pair of congruent sides that are not included between the congruent angles. Hence, the Angle-Angle-Side (AAS) Congruence Theorem implies that the two triangles are congruent. △ BHG≅△ BEA