Appendix: Inversion

Definitions
Consider in the plane a circle a, of radius R
centred at a point O. For any point A, distinct from
0, let us define the point A' in the following way.
The point A' is located on the ray OA so that
lOA 1·1 OA I = R2. Thus, for all points in the
plane, except for the point 0, a transformation
is assigned which is called the inverston with respect
to the circle a. This transformation is also called
a symmetry with respect to a circle, the points A
and A' being said to be symmetric with respect to
the circle cx. (If a straight line is assumed to be a
circle of infinite radius, then the symmetry with
respect to a straight line can be represented as a
limiting case of symmetry with respect to- a circle.)
The point 0 is called the centre of inverston, the
quantity k = R2, the power of inversion. Obviously,
the points A and A' are interchanged: A goes into
A " and A ' goes into A. All the points of the circle
a, and only those points, remain fixed. The inter-
ior points of the circle cx become exterior, and vice
versa.
We can "supplement" the plane with a point
at infinity (00) and assume that as a result of the
inversion the point 0 goes into 00, and 00 into O.
Henceforward, the points into which the
points A, B, C, .•. go 8S a result of the inversion
are denoted by A', B', C',
Basic Properties of Inversion
Let us consider the basic properties of an in-
version leaving the simplest and obvious proper-
ties unproved and outlining a scheme for reasoning
in the rest of the cases. (Completing the reasoning
with missing links, considering various configu-
rations, as well as carrying out computations and
making drawings are left to the reader.)
Appendix: Inversion 393

t , A straight line passing through the centre

of inversion goes into Itself.
2. If- the points 0, A, and B are not collinear,
then the triangles OAB and OB'A' are similar. The
vertices A and B', B and A' are similar. In addi-
tion, I A'B' I = (k I AB 1)/ lOA I- lOB I·
Note that the last equality is also true if the
points 0, A, and B are collinear.
3. A 'straight line not passing through the cen-
tre of inversion 0, goes into a circle passing through
O. In this case, if l is a given line, A the foot of
the perpendicular from 0 on It then l goes into a
circle of diameter OA'.
Let us take an arbitrary point B on I. From
the similarity of the triangles OAB and OB'A'
(Property 2) it follows that LOB 'A ' = LOAB =
90°.
4. A circle CI) passing through the centre of
inversion 0, goes into a straight line perpendicu-
lar to the straight line passing through 0 and the
centre of the circle 6>.
5. If a straight line l and a circle (J) go' into
each other in an inversion with centre at 0, then
the tangent to (il at the point 0 is parallel to I.
6. A circle CI) not passing through 0 goes Into
the circle CD' which does Dot contaiD 0 either.
In this case, 0 is the external centre of similitude
of the circles (a) and 6>'.
To prove this property, let us draw a straight
line through 0 and denote by A and B the points
of its intersection with the circle (in particular,
we may assume A and B to be diametrically oppo-
site points on e). Suppose that B lies on the line
segment OA. Then A belongs to the line segment
OB'. If C is an arbitrary point of the circle, then,
taking into account the similarity of ap~ropriate
triangles (Property 2), we have: LA C' B' =
LOC'B' - LOC'A' = LOBe - LOAC:::;:
LACB.
Since the number of intersection points of two
lines remains unchanged in inversion, we have:
26-015&7
 394 Problems in Plane Geometry

7. Depending on the position of the centre of

inversion, two touching circles go into:
(8) two touching circles (if 0 lies on neither
of them);
(b) a circle and a line tangent to this circle
(0 lies on one of the circles, but does not coincide
with the point of tangency);
(c) a pair of parallel lines (0 coincides with
the point of tangency).

The Angle Between Circles

The angle between two intersecting circles is
defined as the angle between the tangents to the
circles passing through one of the points of, their
intersection. The angle between a circle imd a
straight line intersecting this circle is defined as
the angle between that line and the tangent to
the circle passing through one of the points of
intersection. Here, we may assume that the angle
between the lines does not exceed 90°.
Obviously, the choice of the point of intersec-
tion is of no importance, for determining the angle
between two circles. It is also obvious that the
angle between the circles is equal to the angle
between their radii drawn to the point of inter-
section.
8. The inversion retains the angle between
straight Hnes, I.e., the angle between straight
lines is equal to the angle between their images.
If the centre of inversion coincides with the
point of intersection of the lines, then the asser-
tion is trivial. And if this centre does not coincide
with the point of intersection of ·.the lines, then
it follows from Property 5 and the definition of
the angle between two circles or between a circle
and a straight line.
9. In inversion. the angle between two circles
is equal to the angle between their images.
Consider the case when the centre of inversion
does not lie on given circles. Let A be one of the
/tppendix: Inversion 395

intersection points of the circles 001 and 002 , ~

and li the tangents to WI and 6)2' respectively,
passing through A. Let us also assume that the
centre of inversion 0 does not lie on the straight
lines 't '2'
and In the inversion with centre 0,
the circles (a)t and Cl)2 go into w~ and co~, respective-
ly, and the lines '1 and 12 into the circles I; and
'i touching ro; and ro~ at the point A' of their
intersection (Property 7), that is, the angle be-
tween 1; and 12 is equal to the angle between ~~
and m;, and since the angle between 1; and ,; is
equal to the angle between 11 and It (Property 8),
the angle between (J) ~ and CO 2 is equal to the angle
between (0\ and (Ot'
to. If the circles ex and CI) are orthogonal, that
is, the angle between them is equal to 90°, then
In io,:ersion with respect to ex the circle CI) goes
into itself. And conversely, if in inversion with
respect to the circle ex the circle CI) not coinciding
with ex goes into itself, then a and (a) are orthogonal.
Obviously, the last property is symmetric with
respect to a and CI). The radii of the circles a and
6) are, respectively, equal to the tangents drawn
from the centre of one circle to the other circle.
On the basis of Property 10, the inversion can
be defined in the following way. All the points
of the circle a go into themselves. If A does not
belong to a and does not coincide with its centre,
then the image of the point ..-i is represented by
the point A' which is the second point of inter-
.section of any two circles orthogonal to a and pas-
sing through A, Now, the sense of the synonymic
name for inversion-symmetry with respect to
a circle-becomes clearer. From this definition
and the property of inversion to preserve the "angle
between two Intersecting circles, it follows that:
t t , For any circle CIl and two points A and B
going into each other in the inversion with respect
to (0 their images in the inversion with respect
to the circle a whose centre does not belong to
(a) are represented by the circle ro' and polnta A'

26*
396 Problems in Plane Geometry

80d B' which go into each other in the inversion

with respect to (0'. If the centre of a, lies on 0),
then CJ) goes into the straight line l, and the
points A and B into the points A' and B', sym-
metric with respect to I.

The Radical Axis of Two Circles

Solve the following problem.
Given two non-concentric circles 6)1 and (lls.
Find the locus of points M for which the tan-
gents drawn to the circles (1)1 - and (llt are equal.
Solution. Let 01. and 0. denote the centres
of the circles Ctll and (1)2' Tl and TI their radii, Al
and A I the points of tangency, respectively. We
have IM01 12 - I MO" 12 = (I MAl 12 + rl) -
(I MA" 12 + T~) = rf - rl. Thus, all the points
belong to one and the same straight line perpendic-
ular to 0 101 - This line is called the radical axis
of the circles 6)1 and (I)". To complete the solu-
tion of the problem, it remains to determine which
points of the found line satisfy its conditions.
I t is possible to show that if the circles do not
.intersect, then all the points of the radical axis
.are suitable. If (1)1 and (1)2 intersect, then the rad-
ical axis contains their common chord; but all
the points of the common chord are not contained
in the required locus of points. Therefore, if (1)1 and
(1),1 touch each other, then the point of tangency
is' -excluded.
Consider the circle a with centre M on the
radical axis of the circles 0)1 and 0), and radius
equal to the length of the tangent drawn from
M to (01 or (1)1. (M is assumed to be located out-
side 0)1 and (1),-) The circle a is orthogonal to the
circles (01 and (01. Thus, the points of the radical
axis situated outside the circles which intersect
or touch each other constitute the locus of centres
of the circles orthogonal simultaneously to 0)1
and (0" and there is an inversion that carries
each ot them into itself.
 Appendix: Inversion 397

Now, let us prove one more property of the

inversion.
12. If the circles WI and 002 do Dot Jntersect,
then there is an inventon carrying them into
eoncentric circles. "
Let us take a circle a orthogonal to"~l and
ro2 with centre on the straight line I containing
the centres of rot and IDs. Since the circle~l and
(Ill do not intersect, such a circle a is ~tent.
Let 0 be one of the intersection pointsref the
circle a and the line I. In the-inversion with centre
0, the line t goes into itself, and the circle a into
the straight line p _ The lines I and p intersect and
are orthogonal to the circles co; and roi whieh are
the images of 0)1 and COt in the inversion with
respect to a. Hence it fol ows that the centres of
Q); and ro~ coincide with the point of intersection
of the lines I and p, that is, CIlI and ro' are concen-
tric circles, (Prove that if a straight fine is ortho-
gonal to a circle, then the former passes through
its centre.)
Here, we should like to note that any circle
orthogonal to the concentric circles 0)' and 00;
is a straight line, that is, a circle of infinite ra-
dius. Hence, in the inversion with respect to the
circle a all the circles, orthogonal to the circles
(1)1 and CJ)t must go into straight lines. Consequent-
ly, all the circles orthogonal to rol and IDs intersect
the line l at two fixed points.
13. For aoy two circles (&)1 and (1)2' there exists
at least one inversion which carries them into
each other. The circle defining this inversion
is called the middle circle of WI and CJ)I_
Theorem 13 should be formulated more exactly
in the Iollowing way. If 6)1 and w, intersect, then
there exist exactly two inversions in which 001
goes into W 2 t and vice versa. If W1 and CJ)B touch
each other or do", not intersect, then there is only
one such inversion.
Let us first consider the case of intersecting
circles CDt and CIl~. Apply an inversion I with centre
398 Problems in Plane Geometry

in one of the points of their intersection; a8 a re-

sult, (01 and IDs go into intersecting straight lines
't
11 and ll' The lines 11 and have two bisectors with
respect to which 11 and " are symmetric, Conse-
quently (Property t 1), in the inversion I those
bisectors go into two circles with respect to which
(1)1 and 6) t are symmetric,
If ml and ID. do not intersect, then there is an
inversion I (Property i2) carrying them into con-
centric circles 00; and 6)g. Let 0 denote the centre
of m; and m;, and rl and r. their radii. Inversion
with respect to the circle a,' with centre at 0 and
radius './ TIT, carries 6>i and 6)2 into each other,
In the inversion I applied, the circle a' goes into
the required circle ex with respect to which 6>1
and (01 are symmetric.
To conclude this section, let us give the defini-
tion of the radical centre of three circles. Consider
three circles Cl)t, CI)~H and 6>3 whose centres do not
lie on a straight line. It is possible to prove that
three radical axes corresponding to three pairs
of those circles intersect at a point M. This point
is called the radical centre of the circles COt, CI) 2'
and Cila, The tangents drawn from M to the circles
<tll' (I)" and 6)3 are equal to one another, Hence,
there is an inversion with centre M that carries
each of the circles (01' (02' and (03 into itself.
Problems and Exercises
t , Find the image of a square in the inversion
with respect to the circle inscribed in the square.
2. Given a triangle ABC. Find all points 0
such that the inversion with centre 0 carries the
straight lines A B, Be, and CA into circles of
the same radius.
3. Let A', B', and C' denote the images of
the points A, B, and C, respectively, in the in-
version with centre at a point o. Prove that:
(a) if 0 coincides with the centre of the circle
circumscribed about the triangle ABe. then the
..Appendix: Inversion 399

·triangle A 'B'C' is similar to the triangle ABC;

(b) if 0 coincides with the centre of the inscribed
circle, then the triangle A'B'C' is similar to
the triangle whose vertices lie at the centres of
the escribed circles;
(c) if 0 coincides with the intersection point
of the alti tudes of the triangle ABe, then the
!l'iangle A'B'C' is similar to the triangle with
vertices at the feet of the altitudes of the triangle.
4. Points A and A' are symmetric with re-
spect to a circle a, M is an arbitrary point of the
circle. Prove that t AM 1/1 A'M I is constant.
5. Two mutually perpendicular diameters are
drawn in a circle a. The straight lines joining the
end points of one of the diameters to an arbitrary
point of the circle a intersect the second diameter
and its extension at points A and A'. Prove that
A and A ' are symmetric with respect· to the circle a.
6. Prove that if a circle CJ) passes through the
centre of a circle a, then the image of CJ) in the
inversion with respect to a is their radical axis.
7. Given a circle and two points A and B on
it. Consider all possible pairs of circles touching
the given circle at the points A and B· and touch-
ing each other at a point M. Find the locus of
points M.
8. Given two touching circles. An arbitrary
circle touches one of them at point A and the other
at B. Prove that the straight line AB passes through
a fixed point in the plane. (In the case of equal
circles A B is parallel to the straight line passing
through their centres.)
9. Given three circles aI' a 2 , as, passing
through the same point. The straight line passing
through the points of intersection of the circles
I al and a 2 contains the centre of the circle as; the
straight line passing through the points of inter-
section (L2 and as contains the centre of the circle
at. Prove that the straight line passing through
the points of intersection as and at contains thQ
centre of the circle a 2 •
400 Problems in Plane Geometry

10. Given two circles (1)1 and ro2 • Consider

two arbitrary circles which touch the given circles
at some points and also each other at a point M.
Find the locus of points M.
11. Prove that by inversion any two circles
can be carried into two equal circles.
12. Prove that by inversion any four points
A, B, C, D, not lying on a straight line can be
carried into the vertices of a parallelogram.
13. The inversion with respect to a circle with
centre 0 and radius R carries the circle with centre
A and radius r into the circle of radius r' Prove
that r' = (rR2)/1l OA 12 - r 2 I.
t4. Four points A, B, C, and D are given in
a plane. Prove that I AB I· I CD I +
I AD I· 1BC 1:>- lAC 1• I BD ~.
15. In a triangle ABC, the side AC is the
greatest. Prove that for any point M the following
inequality holds: I AM I + I CM I:> I BM I·
~ 16. Prove that all the circles passing through
a 'given [Link] A and intersecting a circle <X at dia-
metrical y opposite points contain one more
fixed point distinct from A.
t 7. Given four pointsx , B, C, and D. Prove
that the angle between the circles circumscribed
about the triangles ABC and BCD is equal to
the angle between the circles circumscribed about
the triangles CDA and DAB.
t8. A circle CI) passes through the centre of a
circle ct. A is an arbitrary point of the circle <I).
The straight line passing through A and the centre
of the circle a intersects a common chord of the
circles a and ro at a point A '. Prove that A and A'
are symmetric with respect to the circle <X.
19. Given two non-intersecting circles, which
do not contain each other, and a point A lying
outside the circles. Prove that there are exactly
four circles (straight lines can also occur among
them) passing through A and touching the given
circles.
20. Let s denote the area of the circle whose
Appendix: Inversion 401

centre is found at a distance a from the point o.

The inversion with respect to the circle with centre
o and radius R carries the given circle into the
circle of area a'. Prove that 8' = s- R4/(a2 - R2)2.
21. Given two circles tangent to each other.
Consider two other circles tangent to the given
circles and to each other. Let r\ and r I denote the
radii of the last two circles, and dJ and d l the dis-
tances from their centres to the straight line
passing through the centres of the given circles.
Prove t hat -
I
d, - -
rt rl
I
d t =2 or dt -,-=
rt rl
Idl 2.
22. Let 0)1 and CJ)t be two circles tangent to
each other. Consider the sequence of distinct circles
a o, at, a 2 , •• , an' ... , each of which touches
6)1 and 0)1' and, in addition, the circle ak +1 touches
the circle all' Denote the radii of the circles
a o, at, · .. , an, · · t by ro, rl t • . , rn , · · t
and the distances from their centres to the
straight line passing through the centres of 0)1
and (J)2 by el t , d1 , ., d n , Express d n in
terms of rn if:
(a) do =·0 (this case is possible if 0)1 and CJ)2
touch each other internally);
(b) do = kro. .
23. Let al and at denote two intersecting circles,
A and B the points of their intersection, 0) an
arbitrary circle touching (Xl and a , r the radius
of the circle (I), and d the distance from its centre
to the straight line AB. Prove that the ratio rld
can take on only two distinct values.
24. Given two non-intersecting circles at and
a 2 and a collection of circles CJ)1' O)~" •• , O)n'
touching al and ai' where (J)2 touches COt, 0)3 touches
6)2' ., (i)n touobes COn-t. We say that the sys-
tem of circles (J)1' 6)". ., CJ)n forms a chain
if O)n and (i)t touch each other. Prove that if for the
circles at and at there exists at least one chain
consisting of n circles, then there are infinitely
many chains. In this case, for any point A on either
(11 or (XI there is a chain for which A is the point
402 Problems in Plane Geometry

of tangency of one of the circles of the chain.

25. Prove that if for the circles at and a. there
exists a chain of n non-intersecting clreles (see
the preceding problem), then (8 ± r)1 -- tJI =
4Rr tanl (nln), where Rand r are the radii of the
circles al and at and d is the distance between
their centres. (The minus sign is taken iF one circle
is located inside the other, and the pl us sign if
otherwise.)
26. Consider three circles each of which touches
three escribed circles of a triangle, each of those
circles touching QDe of the escribed circles internally
and the two other escribed circles externally.
Prove that the three circles intersect at one point.
270 Let dl , d l , . ., d n denote the distances
from a point M lying on the arc AlA n of the circle
circumscribed about the regular n-gon A IA I • • ,4 n
to the vertices A lt A t · , An· Prove that dl~' +
_1_+ +_1-_=_1_
tJ.d a d n -ld n d1dn •
28. Let 4lt a., . an-I' ao denote the sides
AlAs, A,A s, -, An-lAn, AnAl of the n-gon
AlA" ., An; Pit P2' 0 Pn-l' Po the distances
0'

from an arbitrary point M on the arc A n A t of tho

circle to the straight lines AlA 2' A .tA 3'
An-tAn; AnAl·
Prove that ~=..!!..-r-~ -t +~
Po Pl PI 0 - I' fa - 1 •
•

Hints and Solutions

2. There are four points possessing the required
property: the centre of the circle inscribed in
the triangle and the centres of the three escrl bed
cireles.
3. (b) Prove that the triangles OAB and Olbla
are similar. Now from Property 2 it follows that
the straight lines A '8.1-/and I a1b are parallel.
Appendix: Inversion

7. Let a and ~ be circles touching the given

circle <I) at points A and B. In the inversion with
centre at A, the circles ID and a go into parallel
straight lines land p, the circle 8 into the circle 6'
which touches 1 at a fixed point h' and the straight
line p at a point M'. Thus, M' lies on the straight
line passing through B' perpendicular to I. The
required locus is a circle passing through A and B
and orthogonal to 00. (The points A and B them-
selves a e excluded.) Its centre is found at 'the point
of intersection of the tangents to CI) passing through
A and B. I

8. Let 0 denote the point of tangency of the

given circles. In the inversion with centre at 0
those circles go into a pair of parallel straifht lines
containing the points A' and B', the ine seg-
ment A 'B' being perpendicular- to them. The
straight line A B goes into the circle circumscribed
about the triangle A'B'O; this circle, obviously,
passes through the point P symmetric to the point
o with respect to a straight line equidistant from
the obtained parallel lines.
9. Let 0 be the point of intersection of the cir-
cles (Zt, a 2,a.; and AI' AI, .A 8 , respectively, the
points of intersection, distinct from 0, of the cir-
cles a l and aa, a. and aI' (1,1 and ag. The inversion
with centre at D carries the circles ai' a 2 , Ct. into
the straight lines forming the triangle A ;A~A3.
From the hypothesis and Property 3 it follows
that AiD 1. A ~A~, A;O 1. AlA;. Hence, 0 is the in-
tersection point of the altitudes of the triangle
A;A,Ai and A'O -L AiA;.
to. If (all and (Il, intersect, then the desired locus
consists of two circles-the middle circles (01 and
(01 (Theorem f3) excluding the points of inter-
section of (Ill and (0, themselves. If they touch each
other, then it consists' of one middle circle, ex-
cluding the point of tangency. To prove this, It
suffices to apply an inversion with! centre at a
common point of the circles ID\ and 6)1' If Cl)l and
COs have no points in cOinmon" then the entire mid-
 Problems in Plane Geometry

dIe circle is the locus. In this case, we have to apply

the inversion carrying (1)1 and CJ)t into concentric
circles.
1t. Any inversion with centre on the middle
circle possesses the desired property since this
inversion carries the middle circle into a straight
line with respect to which the images of the given
circles are symmetric.
12. Consider two cases.
(1) The points A, B, C t and D lie on the same
circle (I). The given points may be regarded as the
successive vertices of the inscribed quadrilateral.
Let 0 be the 'point of intersection of the circle
orthogonal to (I) and passing through A and C with
the circle orthogonal to ID and passing through B
and D, In the inversion with centre 0 the quadri-
lateral ABeD goes into the inscribed quadrilater-
al A 'B'C'D' whose diagonals are diameters, .that
is, A 'B'C'D' is a rectangle.
(2) At B, .C, and D do not lie on the same-circle.
Let IDA' CI)B' COe, Cl)D denote the ~~Jcles-circumscribed
about the triangles BCD;- CDA, DAB, ABC,
respectively. We take the middle circle for (J) B
and (OD separating the point B from the point D
and tlie middle circle for IDA and IDc separating
.the points A and C. Let 0 denote the point of
their intersection. (Prove that those circles in-
tersect.) In the inversion with centre 0, the given
points go into the vertices of a convex [Link]-
al A 'B'C'D' each of whose diagonals separates
it into two triangles with equal circumscribed
circles (see Problem 11); consequently, the opposite
angles of the quadrilateral are equal, hence it fol-
lows that A 'B'C'D' is a parallelogram (prove it).
t3. Let the line OA intersect the circle with
centre at A at points Band C. Then' B' C' I = 2r'
Now, we can use the formula given in Item 2.
14. We afply the inversion with centre at A'.
We have I B C' I + I C'D' 1:>- I B'D' I. Then use
the formula given in Item 2.
Appendix: Inversion 405

15. It follows from the preceding problem that

I AC 1·1 BM , ~ I AB I- I cu I + I BC I· lAM I.
Since A C is the largest side, I BM I =0;;; II~ : '
IBCI
I eM 1+ I AC I · lAM I ~ I AM I + ·1 Me I.·
J

16. Let A' be obtained from A by inversion

\'lith respect to the circle a; A 1 is symmetric to A '
about the centre of the circle ct. Prove that all the
mentioned circles pass through AI.
[Link] apply the inversion with centre at A.
The first angle is equal to the angle between, the
straight line B'C' and the circle' circumscrib~d
about B'C'D', the second-to the angle between
the lines D'C' and D'B'.
18. The inversion with respect to the circle
a carries the straiflht line AB into 6).
19. We apply .ihe inversion with centre at A.
Then the statement of the problem is equivalent
to the statement that two circles arranged outside
each other have exactly four tangent lines. .
20. Let the straight line passing through the
centre of the inversion and the centre of the given·
circle intersect the given circle at points whose
coordinates are %1 and %1 (the origin lying at the
•
point 0). Then s, = -4
1t (RI
---- R')2 =
%1 %1'
n R4 R4
T tX l - %1)' (%IX,)1 = s (41 - RI)I •
21. Note that in the inversion with centre at 0,
for any straight line t passing through 0 the f.l-
lowing equality is true: dlr = d'lr' for an arbi-
trary circle, where rand r' are the radii of the
given circle and its image, respectively, d and
d' are the distances from their centres to the line
" respectively. This follows from the fact that
o is the external centre of similitude of both cir-
cles (Property 6). "
inversion with centre at the point 0'
Let us return to our problem, We apply the
tangency of
406 Problems in Plane Geometry

the given circles. The given circles go .into a pair

of parallel straight lines, the line I passing through
the centres of the given circles is perpendicular
to them. The circles with the radii rl and r, go
into a pair of circles of the same radius r' which
touch each other and also a pair of parallel lines
obtained. Now it is obvious that if the centres of
the last two circles lie on the same side of I, and,
+
d~ di di , 2r'
f or defi m°t eness, d'2 > d'l' th en rrr:::
r r r
d' d' d'
+==2. If on both sides, then
r
--++4-=2.
r r
22. Use the result of the preceding problem.
We get in Case (a) d n = 2nr n ; in .Case (b) two an-
swers are possible: dn = (2n + k) r n and d n =
I k - 2n I r n •
23. We apply the inversion with centre at A;
11 and 'I
the circles a l and a l go into the straight lines
intersecting' at the point B' situated on
the straight line AB., As was proved when solv-
ing Problem 21, rid = r'ld', But r'ld'is the ratio of
the radius of the circle touching the lines 11 and '2
to the distance from its centre to the fixed straight
line passing through the point of intersection of
'1 and I •. Hence, r'ld' takes on only two values
depending on which of the two pairs of the vertical
angles formed by IJ and I. the circle is located.
24. We apply the inversion carrying <Xl and as
into concentric circles (see Theorem 12). This done,
the assertion of the problem becomes obvious.
This theorem is called Steiner's porism,
25. If aJ and as are concentric circles with
radii Rand r, then the validity of the equality
(R - r)2 = 4Rr· tan2 (nln) (d = 0) is readily ob-
tained from the obvious relationship R - r =
(R + r) sin (nln), R > r. We apply the inversion
whose centre is at a distance 4 from the common
centre of the circles al and at. Let, for definiteness,
a > R. The circles at and <XI will go into the
circles at and a;, ai inside a.i. In this case, by
 Appendix: Inversion 401
the formula from Problem 13, we have R' =
:..a 2 Rpl r' = a rpl h i · the power 0 f
_ RI , 2 _ rI ' wr ere p IS
inversion. To find d' (the distance between the
centres of the circles al and at) we draw a straight
1ine through the centre of tile inversion and the
centres of (1,1 and (I, ; the segment of this line en-
closed between the ~rst two points of Intersection
with the circles (1,1 and fl, is equal to the width of
the annulus (R - r). Tlie inversion carries ~
segment into the segment of length b =
(R-r)p2
::: (4-r) (a-R) (see Item ·2), consequently,
d' = I R' - r' -b 1 = I Rpt _ rp'

(~-r) p2 I 41 -
RI
a (R'- r 2 ) pi
= (a2 - r t ) (at _ RI) • Further,
: (4 - r) (a - R)
al-r~

replacing R' and r' with the aid of the formulas

. , , (R-r)(al+Rr)p~
derived above, we get R - r = (al - r'> (a' _ RI) ·
We have to verify the validity of the equality
(11' - r')2 - (d')2 = 4R'r' tan' (n/n). Expressing
all the quantities entering this equality in terms
of R, r, a, and p and simplifying the result ob-
tained, we lead to the equality (R - r)2 (a 2 +
Rr)2 - (R - r)2 a2 (R + r)2 = 4Rr (a 2 - r 2) X
(a2 - R 2) tan2 (n/n)'o But (R - r)I=4Rr tan (n/n).
Hence, we have to check to see that (a2 +
Rr)1 - a2 (R +
r)2 = (a 2 - r 2 ) (a 2 - R2). This
can be done easily.
The case a < R Is identic to the above. And
if r < a < R, then ex; and a; are located outside
@8ch other, and in the given formula the plus sign
should be taken.
26. We apply the inversion with centre in
the radical centre of the escribed circles in which
the escribed circles go into themselves. This inypr-
lion carries the straight lines containjpO' 6h~ sIdes
of the triangle into the cir~les--~oned In the
408

'hypothesis. All the three cilftles p,8SS .through the

radical centre of the e$Crib,e¢,eircles of thetriangle.
27. We apply the' inversion- with centre at M
and of power 1. A~ [Link].8u.l.t,[Link] At, AI ...,
.A•. go. into the pOints A;, Ai, ... , 4.;: situated
on a straight Ilne, .~et the side of the n-gon be equal
to CJ. From the formula of Item 2 it follows that
" 1 t
I A;A·~ I = dla, a; I A~A3 I = drla a;
I A~_lA~ I = d t d 4; I A;A 1= d td 4. Sub-
n
n-l n 1 n
stituting these expresSions into the obvious rela-
tionshlp I A;A n I = I AiAil +"
A~Ai I + .. +
IA~_IA': 'twe get the desired result.
28. We apply the inversion with centre at M.
The vertices of the given n-gon go into n points
lying on a straight line, and
I A;A~ I = I AiA, I + IA,Ail +. ·· + I A~-lA~ I·
(.)
Let p' denote the length of the perpendicular from
the point M on the straight line A ;Ati. From the
similarity of the triangles AlMA land A ;MA t (Prop-
erty 2) it follows that : ~;~illl ~. IAiA~1 =
..!!. p'. Simil~lY,
PI
I AlAs 1 = ;: P'. ' A'n I --
lA n-l - p' ,
tln-l
-
Pn-l
I A;A nI=-!L p '
Po
Substituting these expressions into the relationship
(.) and redu~ing by p', we get the required equality.