Similar Triangles

🏆Practice similar triangles

What is triangle similarity?

Similar triangles are triangles for which there is a certain similarity ratio, that is, each of the sides of one triangle is in uniform proportion to the corresponding side in the other triangle. In addition, the angles at the same locations are also equal for the two similar triangles.

How do you prove the similarity of triangles?

To prove the similarity of triangles it is common to use one of three theorems:

  • Angle-angle (i.e., two pairs of equal angles in triangles).
  • Side-angle-side (similarity ratio of two pairs of sides in triangles and the angles trapped between them are equal)
  • Side-side-side-side (similarity ratio of three pairs of sides in triangles).
How do you prove the similarity of triangles

Similarities of triangles are expressed with the sign .

Start practice

Test yourself on similar triangles!

einstein

Angle B is equal to 70 degrees

Angle C is equal to 35 degrees

Angle E is equal to 70 degrees

Angle F is equal to 35 degrees

Are the triangles similar?

AAABBBCCCDDDEEEFFF

Practice more now

We will illustrate the issue with an example.

The drawing before us shows two similar triangles,ABC \triangle ABC and KLM \triangle KLM .

two triangles similar to ABC and KLM

The similarity ratio of the triangles is 2 2 . This means that each side in the larger triangle ABC \triangle ABC is twice as large as the corresponding side in the smaller triangle KLM \triangle KLM.

In addition, the angles at the corresponding places in the two triangles are equal to each other.

As illustrated in the drawing, the following is true:

The angle A \sphericalangle A is equal to the angle K \sphericalangle K
The angle B \sphericalangle B is equal to the angle L \sphericalangle L
The angle C \sphericalangle C is equal to the angle M \sphericalangle M


If you are interested in this article you may also be interested in the following articles

In Tutorela you will find a great variety of mathematics articles.


Exercises on similar triangles

Exercise 1

Task

If we are talking about similar triangles then:

Choose the correct answer.

Solution

In similar triangles, the ratio of the lengths of the sides of two similar triangles is equal to the ratio of their perimeters.

Answer

The ratio of the lengths of the sides of two triangles is equal to the ratio of their perimeters.


Join Over 30,000 Students Excelling in Math!
Endless Practice, Expert Guidance - Elevate Your Math Skills Today
Test your knowledge

Exercise 2

The ratio of the area of similar triangles is 9100 \frac{9}{100} .

If we are given that the perimeter of the large triangle is 129cm 129\operatorname{cm} , what is the perimeter of the small triangle?

Solution

SS=9100 \frac{S\triangle}{S\triangle}=\frac{9}{100}

The ratio of the sides is

310 \frac{3}{10}

PP=P129=310 \frac{P\triangle}{P\triangle}=\frac{P\triangle}{129}=\frac{3}{10}

The perimeter of the small triangle is 38.7 38.7

Answer

38.7 38.7


Exercise 3

Task

Given two similar triangles. The area of the small triangle is 12.5 12.5 , what is the length of the side?

The area of the small triangle is 12.5 What is the length of the side?

Area of the large triangle

10×102=50 \frac{10\times10}{2}=50

The area of the small triangle is 12.5 12.5

5012.5=4 \frac{50}{12.5}=4

4=2 \sqrt{4}=2

10x=2 \frac{10}{x}=2

x=5 x=5

Answer

5 5


Do you know what the answer is?

Exercise 4

Question

What is the area of the blue triangle if it is given that the two triangles are similar and the area of the green triangle is 64 64 .

The two triangles are similar and the area of the green triangle is 64

Solution

From the similarity it follows that 123=4 \frac{12}{3}=4

64S=16 \frac{64}{S}=16

6416=S \frac{64}{16}=S

S=4 S=4

Answer

4 4


Exercise 5

Task

The ratio of similarity between two similar triangles is 7 7 , then the ratio of the areas is —— _{——}

Solution

In general, this question is based on the simple "rule": the ratio of the area is equal to the square of the similarity ratio

Then, if the ratio of similarity is 7 7 ,

the ratio of the areas is 72 7^2

which is 49 49

Answer

49 49


Check your understanding

Review questions

What are two similar triangles?

We can say that two triangles are similar when they have the same shape even if they have different sizes, for that they must meet some of the similarity criteria.

What are the three similarity criteria?

To know that two triangles are similar they must meet some of the three similarity criteria:

  • Side-Side-Side (SSS): If the ratio of their three pairs of corresponding sides is the same then two triangles are similar.
  • Side-Angle-Side (SAS): Two triangles are similar if the ratio of two pairs of corresponding sides is the same and the angle between these two pairs is the same, then they are similar triangles.
  • Angle-Angle (AA): For two triangles to be similar by this criterion, two of their respective angles must measure the same and therefore the third angle must also have the same measure as the angle corresponding to that angle. That is, their three corresponding angles measure the same.

What is the ratio of similarity of two triangles?

It is the ratio between the corresponding sides of those triangles.


How to find the similarity ratio of two triangles?

The similarity ratio is obtained by dividing the corresponding sides of two similar figures, in this case of two triangles.

Let's see an example:

Task

Given the following similar triangles ABCDEF \triangle ABC\sim\triangle DEF

Calculate the similarity ratio

calculate the similarity ratio

Given that ABCDEF \triangle ABC\sim\triangle DEF by the similarity criterion AA.

Then we must locate which are the corresponding sides, and from here we deduce that

A=D \sphericalangle A=\sphericalangle D

B=E \sphericalangle B=\sphericalangle E

Then the corresponding sides are AB AB and DE DE

Now to calculate the similarity ratio we do the quotient of these two sides.

ABDE=1510=32=1.5 \frac{AB}{DE}=\frac{15}{10}=\frac{3}{2}=1.5

Answer

1.5 1.5


What is the difference between two similar triangles and congruent triangles?

The difference is that when two triangles are similar they have the same shape but their corresponding sides do not have to have equal sides, while when two triangles are congruent they have the same shape AND their corresponding sides are equal.


Exercise of similarity of triangles

Task

Demonstrate that the following triangles are similar

From the above we can observe that they have two pairs of equal angles

B=45°=E \sphericalangle B= 45°= \sphericalangle E

C=75°=F \sphericalangle C= 75°= \sphericalangle F

Then we say that the triangles are similar by the similarity criterion AA. They have the same shape but in different position.

Answer

ABCDEF \triangle ABC\sim\triangle DEF


Do you think you will be able to solve it?

Examples with solutions for Similar Triangles

Exercise #1

Look at the two triangles below:

AAABBBCCCDDDEEEFFF

Angle B is equal to angle F.

Angle C is equal to angle D.

Which angle corresponds to angle A?

Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

We use the angle-angle theorem to simulate triangles.

Let's observe the data we already have:

Angles B and F are equal.

Angle C is equal to angle D.

Therefore, the remaining angles must also be equal: angles A and E.

Answer

E E

Exercise #2

Look at the two triangles below:

AAABBBCCCDDDEEEFFF

Angle B is equal to angle E.
Angle A is equal to angle D.

Which angle corresponds to angle C?

Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

As we have two pairs of corresponding angles, we will use the angle-angle theorem for triangle similarity.

Now that we know all angles are equal to each other, we note that the remaining angle that is equal and corresponds to angle C is angle F.

Answer

F F

Exercise #3

Angle B is equal to 70 degrees

Angle C is equal to 35 degrees

Angle E is equal to 70 degrees

Angle F is equal to 35 degrees

Are the triangles similar?

AAABBBCCCDDDEEEFFF

Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

The triangles are similar according to the angle-angle theorem.

Having two pairs of equal angles is sufficient to conclude that the triangles are similar.

Answer

Yes

Exercise #4

Look at the following two triangles:

AAABBBCCCDDDEEEFFFAngles B and D are equal.
Angles A and F are equal.

Which side corresponds to AB?

Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

As we have two equal angles, we will use the angle-angle theorem to simulate triangles.

We will compare the vertices:A=F,B=D A=F,B=D

According to the data it seems that:

Side AC corresponds to side EF.

Side BC corresponds to side DE.

Therefore, side AB corresponds to side FD.

Answer

FD FD

Exercise #5

Angle B is equal to 40°

Angle C is equal to 60°

Angle E is equal to 40°

Angle F is equal to 60°

Are the triangles similar?

AAABBBCCCDDDEEEFFF

Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

Given that the data shows that there are two pairs with equal angles:

B=E=40 B=E=40

C=F=60 C=F=60

The triangles are similar according to the angle-angle theorem, therefore triangle ABC is similar to triangle DEF.

Answer

Yes

Start practice