Medians
You will be constructing 3 medians in one triangle.
Directions:
1. Select the triangle tool and create an acute, scalene triangle. Make sure to select the pointer tool afterwards in order to not keep creating polygons![br]2. Select the point tool ( 2nd from left) and choose midpoint or center from the drop down menu. The directions on how to select the items in order to create a midpoint will appear at the bottom of the screen. (Select a segment.)[br]3. After you create a midpoint, you must create a median by connecting the midpoint with the point opposite using the segment tool (3rd from left.)[br]3. You will do this two more times to create three medians.
What do you notice about the three medians?
This point is special! You will discover why.[br]Step 1: Use the point tool to create a point at the intersection of the three medians.[br]Step 2: Measure the length of each part of each median. You will use the length tool by selecting the 4th tool from the right and then choosing distance or length. [br]Step 3: Drag one of the angles around until one of the numbers you found is a whole number.[br]Step 4: Record all measurements below.
What do you notice about these measurements?
Altitudes
You will be constructing 3 altitudes in one triangle.
Directions:
1. Select the triangle tool and create an acute, scalene triangle. Make sure to select the pointer tool afterwards in order to not keep creating polygons![br]2. Select the point and line tool (4th from left) and choose perpendicular line from the drop down menu. The directions on how to select the items in order to create a perpendicular line will appear at the bottom of the screen. (Select a point and the segment opposite that point.)[br]3. You will do this two more times to create three altitudes.
What do you notice about the three altitudes?
This point is special! This point of concurrency is called the ORTHOCENTER of the triangle.[br]