Find the ratio of lines in a circle

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    Circle Lines Ratio
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around finding the ratio of the lengths of segments BC and CD in an irregular quadrilateral ABCD inscribed in a circle, utilizing properties of angles and the Law of Sines. The focus is on the mathematical reasoning and trigonometric relationships involved in deriving this ratio.

Discussion Character

  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Technical explanation
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express uncertainty about how to solve for the ratio BC:CD, noting that they know the answer is 1:√2 but lack a clear method to derive it.
  • A participant introduces the concept of an inscribed quadrilateral and references the property that opposite angles sum to 180 degrees, leading to a relationship between angles B and D.
  • The Law of Sines is applied to relate the sides BC and CD to the angles, with equations presented to show these relationships.
  • Another participant acknowledges the straightforward nature of the problem once the trigonometric functions are recognized, indicating a realization about the relevance of the angles involved.
  • A suggestion is made to construct an altitude in triangle BCD to facilitate the calculation of the lengths of segments BC and CD, proposing a method to compute the required ratio.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the use of trigonometric relationships and properties of inscribed angles, but there is no consensus on the method to derive the ratio or the steps to take next.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes assumptions about the properties of inscribed angles and the application of the Law of Sines, but does not resolve the specific calculations or steps needed to find the ratio.

mitaka90
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I have no idea how to solve this problem.
ABCD is just an irregular Quadrilateral so nothing too special with that figure.
We are looking for the ratio BC:CD and we only have that two angles. I know that the answer is 1:√2, but I have no idea how to find it.
 

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mitaka90 said:
I have no idea how to solve this problem.
ABCD is just an irregular Quadrilateral so nothing too special with that figure.
We are looking for the ratio BC:CD and we only have that two angles. I know that the answer is 1:√2, but I have no idea how to find it.

Hi mitaka90! Welcome to MHB! ;)

We are looking at an inscribed or chordic quadrilateral.
Its associated proposition states that its opposite angles sum up to $180^\circ$.
So we have:
$$\angle B + \angle D = 180^\circ \quad \Rightarrow \quad \angle D = 180^\circ - \angle B \tag 1$$

Furthermore, according to the Law of Sines, we have:
$$\frac{BC}{\sin 30^\circ} = \frac{AC}{\sin \angle B} \tag 2$$
respectively:
$$\frac{CD}{\sin 45^\circ} = \frac{AC}{\sin \angle D} \tag 3$$

Combining (1) and (3) gives:
$$\frac{CD}{\sin 45^\circ} = \frac{AC}{\sin(180^\circ - \angle B)} = \frac{AC}{\sin \angle B} \tag 4$$

See what comes next?
 
Yep, pretty straight forward from here. I can't believe how I couldn't work out that there would be some trigonometric functions stuff going on, specifically law of sines, because of the square root in the answer and the angles in the actual problem, lol. Thanks a lot! :) Btw, feel free to delete my first post if you can. I don't know why I've posted two times.
 
By the inscribed angle theorem, $\angle{CDB}=30^\circ$ and $\angle{CBD}=45^\circ$.

Construct the altitude of $\triangle{BCD}$ from $C$ to $\overline{BD}$ and, without a loss of generality, assign it a length of $1$ unit. Now it's easy to determine the (resulting) lengths of $\overline{CD}$ and $\overline{BC}$ and to compute the required ratio.
 

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