Prove the following statement. Let ABC be any right triangle, the right angle at point C. The altitude drawn from C to the hypotenuse splits the triangle into two right triangles that are similar to each other and to the original triangle?

1 Answer
May 23, 2018

See Below.

Explanation:

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According to the Question,

#DeltaABC# is a right triangle with #/_C = 90^@#, and #CD# is the altitude to the hypotenuse #AB#.

Proof:

Let's Assume that #/_ABC = x^@#.

So, #angleBAC = 90^@- x^@ = (90 - x)^@#

Now, #CD# perpendicular #AB#.

So, #angleBDC = angleADC = 90^@#.

In #DeltaCBD#,

#angleBCD = 180^@ - angleBDC - angleCBD = 180^@ - 90^@ - x^@ = (90 -x)^@#

Similarly, #angleACD = x^@#.

Now, In #DeltaBCD# and #DeltaACD#,

#angle CBD = angle ACD#

and #angle BDC = angleADC#.

So, by AA Criteria of Similarity, #DeltaBCD ~= DeltaACD#.

Similarly, We can find, #DeltaBCD ~= DeltaABC#.

From that, #DeltaACD ~= DeltaABC# .

Hope this helps.