Trapezoids Talk - A Paper by Michael Keyton

7/20/13
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Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by Total Gadha - W e dne sday, 24 Se pte m be r 2008, 07:25 PM
While I am busy writing the next article for TG.com, here is an offering by another mathematician, Michael Keyton of Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. In this paper, Mr. Keyton discusses about the properties of a trapezium. Some of the properties are known whereas many of these are unknown. I discovered the paper while searching for one of the properties of the trapezium, namely the sum of the squares of the diagonals of a trapezium. Mr. Keyton has graciously given us the permission to publish the paper on TG. So here is it everyone, the complete compendium of the properties of a trapezium. Include them in your armory of formula.
Trapezoids Talk In every high school textbook, the trapezoid in included as one of the quadrilaterals to study (or investigate). In almost every one, it is defined as a quadrilateral with exactly one pair of parallel sides. In this talk, I will argue that the definition should be changed and that there is much more to the trapezoid than is given in the books. Almost every theorem about a trapezoid can be broken into two categories those that are really about parallel sides and those that in some way incorporate a feature of a quadrilateral. In the history of geometry, many definitions have been changed, some from being exclusive to being inclusive. An exclusive definition is one that separates other objects from being in the same class. For example, in Euclid, an isosceles triangle is defined to be a triangle with exactly two equal sides. Thus, an equilateral triangle is not isosceles. Likewise all his definitions of quadrilaterals are exclusive. During the next 2300 years, most of these have been changed. Now in every high school textbook, equilateral triangles are isosceles, rectangles and rhombi are parallelograms, and squares are rectangles and rhombi. There are two advantages to having inclusive definitions (1) theorems for the more restricted case become corollaries for the more general case and (2) converses do not need to contain an or conclusion. By one construction, we can easily see that the parallelogram is a special case of a trapezoid. Take two points on each of two parallel lines. The quadrilateral formed by using these points is a trapezoid (or a parallelogram). C onsequently, the definition can be strengthened by including it as such. So why is the definition maintained in the textbooks? I think primarily that many authors do not wish to go against standard terminology, most of the authors have not thought about the inconsistency in terminology, they are not actively engaged in discovering and proving theorems in geometry, and there are no converses for the trapezoid covered in high school geometry. Thus, for good mathematical reasons lets change the definition to: A trapezoid is a quadrilateral with at least one pair of parallel sides. In the theorems that follow, some require that a pair of sides be non-parallel, but the parallel case follows as well, usually with little or no additional proof. While we are at this change, the same argument applies to the isosceles trapezoid and the rectangle. A simple construction shows that the rectangle is a special case of the isosceles trapezoid. How then can we define the isosceles trapezoid so that the rectangle is a special case. I offer a variety of different definitions. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) An An An An An isosceles trapezoid is a cyclic trapezoid. isosceles trapezoid is a trapezoid with a pair of supplementary opposite angles. isosceles trapezoid is a trapezoid with the other pair of sides anti-parallel with respect to the parallel sides. isosceles trapezoid is a trapezoid with a pair of congruent base angles. isosceles trapezoid is a trapezoid with congruent diagonals.
Here are a few other definitions that I offer. The diacenter of a quadrilateral is the intersection point of the diagonals. A quord of a quadrilateral is a segment with endpoints on two sides of a quadrilateral. A median is a quord with endpoints the midpoints on opposite sides.
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by Gul Gul - W e dne sday, 24 Se pte m be r 2008, 11:28 PM Long tim e .......
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by Total Gadha - W e dne sday, 24 Se pte m be r 2008, 11:38 PM True ...but we won't upload an article on TG till it's useful. TG won't be com e a ne ws channe l.
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by vam si k rishna - Thursday, 25 Se pte m be r 2008, 10:37 AM aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh C onque ring Tre pe zoid Thank s TG sir VaMsI
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by Krushang Shah - Thursday, 25 Se pte m be r 2008, 11:27 AM Thank s A Lot TG!!! Ex ce lle nt as Usual...
Pe rfe ction Ex ists.....

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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by avinanda dutta - Thursday, 25 Se pte m be r 2008, 01:51 PM whe re is the srticle for pe rm utation. i was sim ply in love with it.
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by inde rje e t singh - Thursday, 25 Se pte m be r 2008, 03:16 PM ve ry use ful thank s sir
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by Total Gadha - Thursday, 25 Se pte m be r 2008, 03:20 PM Hi Avinanda, Find the article ove r he re : http://totalgadha.com /m od/forum /discuss.php?d=3537 Total Gadha
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by Arindam C oom ar - Thursday, 25 Se pte m be r 2008, 07:24 PM Thank s a lot TG for the wonde rful article ... R e ally m any things to le arn in trape ziod too...
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by chandra vik as - Friday, 26 Se pte m be r 2008, 03:49 AM thank s TG for this he lpful article on trape zoids.... he lpe d a lot..but if only you could write on the study plan for the se 50 days, it would be gre at bcoz the study plan cove rs a ve ry long tim e sche dule . once again thanx for this article ...
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by nitin . - Friday, 26 Se pte m be r 2008, 07:54 AM Tg Sir plz post a article on tim e n work .
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by Prashant C hanchal - Saturday, 27 Se pte m be r 2008, 02:15 PM
Hi TG, I guess there is some error in the 3rd property mentioned (High-school) where it says the Area = Half of (Height x Median), which should be Half of (Height x Median). Thanks
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by Total Gadha - Monday, 29 Se pte m be r 2008, 12:40 AM Hi Prashant, C orre cte d. Total Gadha
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by Mou Suk oshi - Tue sday, 30 Se pte m be r 2008, 11:21 AM Sir, Thank s a lot for such a nice article . But I have a fe w confusions. 1> From 15 b) W hat are harm onic se ts? 2> O n the ne t, I found 2 contradictory de finitions for trape zoid and trape zium . British Trapezoid A quadrilate ral with no side s paralle l USA A quadrilate ral with one pair of paralle l side s
Trapezium A quadrilate ral with one pair of paralle l side s A quadrilate ral with no side s paralle l In school, we le arnt the British de fn. I am confuse d as to which de fn is to be followe d for C AT? O r can we inte rchange ably use trape zoid and trape zium to m e an a quadrilate ral with atle ast one pair of paralle l side s?
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by Abhim anyu Kum ar - Saturday, 4 O ctobe r 2008, 02:16 AM Hi TG, An insightful article . thank s. But I dont k now I fe e l lik e the re is a discre pancy in the (15)th the ore m . LB/LA = AB/C D .
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This se e m s to m e that it contradicts m y intuition (it doe snt follow rule of sym m e try) W hat I m e an by sym m e try is that the rule doe snt ide ntifie s in itse lf that why LA/LB = AB/C D wont hold true why only LB/LA = AB/C D is true . The se cond one look s pe rfe ct (HA/HC = AB/C D) from that point of vie w. C an you ple ase clarify. Also I fe e l that TG is a little slow, tak e s com parative ly m ore tim e to upload in a browse r. So if possible do som e thing about it. Its a fe e dback from m y side be cause I love your we bsite -abhim anyu
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by DINKAR MISHR A - Tue sday, 14 O ctobe r 2008, 06:38 PM good colle ction thank s T.G
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by ashish k um ar - Tue sday, 14 O ctobe r 2008, 07:13 PM Thank a lot..
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by santhana lak shm anan - Tue sday, 15 Se pte m be r 2009, 05:47 AM Hi TG, In point(15) shouldn't the form ula LB/LC be actually LB/LA..C orre ct m e if I am wrong..
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by Subhash Me dhi - Sunday, 20 June 2010, 11:43 PM De ar TG sir, I think pre vious form ula give n in point(15) was corre ct. It should be LB/LC = AB/C D and not LB/LA = AB/C D. Triangle s, LAB and LDC are sim ilar. So, it follows naturally.Kindly corre ct m e if i am wrong. R e gards, Subhash
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by Am al Nicholas - Saturday, 27 Nove m be r 2010, 12:16 AM Se riously, m ost of this is not re quire d for C AT. I think "m ax im a and m inim a Ine qualitie s-basics" and "R e m ainde rs", are two of the BEST article s EVER ! The y we re use ful in alm ost all the m ock s I wrote and e ve ntually, e ve n in m y actual C AT pape r. Thank u so m uch TG!
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Re: Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton by ne ha aggarwal - Saturday, 23 June 2012, 06:51 PM Hi TG Sir Nice article I am unable to find any article on basic ge om e try conce pts as whole ple ase provide the link s.. Se arche d for the m a lot..
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7/20/13

CA T 2014 Quant Lessons

Trapezoids Talk- A paper by Michael Keyton

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Pe rfe ction Ex ists.....

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