Jump to content

Segment addition postulate

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by I dream of horses (talk | contribs) at 22:39, 28 November 2024 (Added {{One source}} tag). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.
(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

In geometry, the segment addition postulate states that given 2 points A and C, a third point B lies on the line segment AC if and only if the distances between the points satisfy the equation AB + BC = AC. This is related to the triangle inequality, which states that AB + BC AC with equality if and only if A, B, and C are collinear (on the same line). This in turn is equivalent to the proposition that the shortest distance between two points lies on a straight line.

The segment addition postulate is often useful in proving results on the congruence of segments.

[edit]