Some Surprises in an

ARBELOS
Dan Kemp
SDSU Mathematics Senior Seminar
October 19, 2006
 The ARBELOS (αρβηλοσ) shown below was first described by
ARCHIMEDES in his Book of Lemmas about 215 BCE.

A O1 O C O2 B
 First let’s look at some of the ‘elementary’ surprises.

D
The length of the two smaller
semicircles equals the length of
P
the large semicircle.
R

Q
The line PQ is the
common external tangent
of the two semicircles
A O1 O C O2
and PQ = CD. B

P and Q are determined by drawing AD and BD. Their

intersections with the semicircles determines the points of
tangency. Do you see why the line PQ is tangent?
The line PQ is a tangent line.
With the lines OP, PC,
and CQ drawn in can D

you now see why PQ is

P
a tangent line?
R

A O O C B
The surprises we will discuss today are all shown in
the diagram below.
S D
W1
V

W2

O C
A B
O1 O2

W3 N
L

O3
Q
We will use a combination of traditional geometric and
modern algebraic techniques to prove the following:
 The radii of the three “Archimedian” circles (those
whose centers are Wi , i  1, 2,3 ) are given by
r1 r2
rA 
r
 The radius of the “Pappus” circle (center O3 ) is given
by rr r
rP  1 2
r  r1 r2  r2
1
2 2
We will prove the assertion about the twin Archimedian
circles using Archimedes’ proof. First a lemma.

Proposition 1 (Archimedes) D
F
If two circles are tangent at A C

and if BD and EF are parallel

B O
diameters of the two circles,
then A, D, & F are collinear.
E
Proof: First consider the
case of an internal tangent.
Continuation of the proof of Proposition 1

A
DH is drawn parallel to AO 1 D
1
2 1 F
From the hypotheses WCOHD is a C
2 1

parallelogram. H
B O
It then follows that the labeled
angles are equal and so the
angles at D sum to 180. E

This shows that A, D, & F are collinear.

A diagram for the external tangent case is below. It is an
exercise to prove that D, A, & F are collinear.

HINT: You will need D

to identify some
isosceles triangles C
E
and use the Exterior A
B
Angle Theorem.
O

F
 Now we are ready to understand Archimedes’ proof of the
congruence of the ‘twin’ circles in an arbelos.

F
Proposition 5 (from Archimedes’ D

Book of Lemmas) E K

Referring to the G P
diagram at the right the
claim is that the red M
circles are congruent.
A O1 O C O2 B

Let AO  r , AO1  r1 , and CO2  r2 . We will show that the

r1 r2
radius of each of the ‘twin’ circles is rA  .
r
 ( AC ) (CB)
Archimedes actually shows that HE 
AB
T

Proposition 1 shows that A,H,F; F

D
B,E,F; A,G,E; and C,G,H are I
H
collinear. E K
G
P
Extend AF to meet CD
at T and AE to meet the
M
larger circle at I.

A O1 O C O2 B

The next step is to show that T, I, and B are collinear.

 To do this Archimedes made the first recorded use of the
fact that the altitudes of any triangle are concurrent.
T
Consider ATB F
D
TC and BF are altitudes I
H
meeting at E. Why? E K
G
Thus AI which passes P

through E is also an
altitude. M

But AI  IB . A O1 O C O2 B

Therefore T, I, and B are collinear. Why?

Next note that HC is parallel to TB (why?) and so there are

lots of similar triangles to work with.
 ATB : AHC and ATC : HTE . Therefore

T
AB AT AC F
  D
BC TH HE I
H
( AC ) ( BC ) E K
Which implies HE  G
AB P
2 r1 r2
or HE  .
r M

Thus the radius of the ‘twin’

circle through E, F, & G has A O1 O C O2 B
the required form.
Similarly the ‘twin’ circle through K, M, & P can be shown to
have the same radius. They really are TWINS!
For the ‘interested student’ a diagram for the proof the
radius formula for the right hand circle is below.

F
J D

E K
L
G P

A O1 O C O2 B
 Proposition 6 in the Book of Lemmas establishes a formula
for the radius of the circle tangent to the three semicircles.

Archimedes shows that D

the radius of the circle
through D, E, & F is
given by E

r r1 r2 F
rP  2
r1  r1r2  r2 2
A O1 O C O2 B

We do not have time to prove this today.

This is often called the Pappus circle because of a theorem

about it that Pappus proved in his Collection about 320 CE.
Before proving the last surprise we need a result about the
Pappus circle.
The perpendicular from to
center of the Pappus circle to D

the line AB equals the O'

diameter of the Pappus circle.
E
This was originally proven F
by Pappus using a
complicated geometric A O1 O C H O2 B

argument.

We will give a modern proof which is much easier due to

the virtues of algebraic notation!
The idea behind the proof is to compute the area of O1O ' O
using two different methods and solving for O’H.

D
The two methods are
base*height/2 and O'

Heron’s formula which E y

involves only the sides. r1
F
Then one can solve for r-y
r1 r - r1 r2
the height, O’H.
A O1 O C H O2 B
OA = r

We have 1 (r  r1 ) O ' H  r (r  (r  r1 ) (r  (r  y )) (r  (r1  y )

2
2 r r1 y (r  r1  y )
which yields O ' H 
r  r1
The final calculations:

r r1 r2
Substituting r2  r  r1 and y  2 yields
r1  r1r2  r2 2
2 y
O’H = r r1 (r2  y )
r  r1
2 y  r r1 r2  2 y r r1 r2
= r r1  r2  2 2  = ( r 2
 r r  r2  r r1 )
2

r2  r1  r r
1 2  r2  r2 r1  r1r2  r2
2 2 1 1 2

2y 2
= r1  r1r2  r2 2  (r1  r2 ) r1 = 2 y = 2O’D
r2
Now we can state and prove the last of today’s arbelos
surprises. This one is due to Leon Bankoff, a dentist!
S D
The circle through C, L, & N W1
at the right has the same V
radius as the ‘twin’ circles. W2

To prove this we will consider O P

C
the O1O2O3 . A
O1
B
O2
W3 N
We will calculate the L
area of this triangle in O3
three different ways.
Q
 Let the circle with center Oi have radius ri and let the
circle with center Wi have radius i .
S D
Let A = area O1O2O3 . We
calculate A as follows. W1
V
1 1
A= (O1O2 )(O3 P)  (r1  r2 ) (2r3 ) W2
2 2
= r3 ( r1  r2 )  r3 r
O C P
1 1 1 B
3 (r1  r3 )  3 (r1  r2 )  3 (r2  r3 ) A
A= 2 2 2
O1 O2

= 3 (r1  r2  r3 ) L
W3
N

O3
A= (r1  r2  r3 )r1r2 r3 Q

using Heron’s formula.

Now we cleverly combine these formulas along with some
algebra to get the desired result.

r3 r  r1r2 r3 (r1  r2  r3 ) Now rationalize the RHS

r1r2 r3 (r1  r2  r3 ) Next substitute the second area

r1r2 r3 (r1  r2  r3 ) formula in the denominator.
r1r2 r3 (r1  r2  r3 ) r1r2 r3
 
3 (r1  r2  r3 ) 3
Finally, solve for 3 to complete the proof.
r1r2 r3 r1r2
3    rA
r3 r r
 Finally let’s look at all the surprises in one diagram and see, without
proof, a new surprise, a fourth Archimedian Circle

S D
Actually there are
dozens of Archimedian
V
circles associated with P0
W1
E
the arbelos. In fact W2
Peter Woo found an
infinite family of such O
Q0
C
circles. See the A B
O1 O2
following references. N
W3
L

O3
Q
References
 Alexanderson, G.L. “A Conversation with Leon Bankoff.” The College
Mathematics Journal 23 (1992): 99-117.
 Bankoff, Leon. “Are the Twin Circles of Archimedes Really Twins?”
Mathematics Magazine 47 (1974): 214-18.
 Bankoff, L. “The Marvelous Arbelos.” The Lighter Side of Mathematics.
Ed. R.K. Guy and R.E. Woodrow. Washington, DC: Mathematical
Association of America, 1994. 247-53.
 Boas, Harold. “Reflection on the Arbelos.” American Mathematical
Monthly 113 (2006): 236-49.
 Dodge, C.W., T. Schoch, P.Y. Woo, and P. Yiu. “Those Ubiquitous
Archimedian Circles.” Mathematics Magazine 72 (1999): 202-13.
 Heath, T.L. The Works of Archimedes with the Method of Archimedes.
New York: Dover, 1953.
 Woo, P.Y. “The Arbelos.” Accessed 4 March 2003, from
<http://www.biola.edu/academics/undergrad/math/woopy/arbelos.htm>