Morley's Trisector Theorem
Date of Graduation
Summer 2005
Degree
Master of Science in Mathematics
Department
Mathematics
Committee Chair
Kishor Shah
Abstract
The turn of the twentieth century, mathematician Frank Morley discovered that the adjacent angle trisectors of any triangle will intersect to form the vertices of an equilateral triangle. For the next one hundred years mathematicians have proved and reproved this intriguing theorem called Morley’s Trisector Theorem. In our thesis, we will explain five different types of approaches taken by mathematicians to prove this theorem. The five types of proofs we closely study are the direct proof by A. Letac, the indirect proof by John Conway and also by James Smart, the proof using complex variables by Clarence Lubin, the proof using group theory by Fields medalist Alain Connes, and the complete solution by W.J. Dobbs.
Keywords
plane geometry, Morley triangle, equilateral triangle, angle trisector, complex plane
Subject Categories
Mathematics
Copyright
© Carolyn H. Shand-Hawkins
Recommended Citation
Shand-Hawkins, Carolyn H., "Morley's Trisector Theorem" (2005). MSU Graduate Theses. 1618.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1618
Dissertation/Thesis
