What is the difference between perpendicular and perpendicular bisector?

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Perpendicular means a line making an angle 90° either with its horizontal or vertical. And a perpendicular bisector is that line which lies between these lines and making an angle of 45° with both the lines.



Also know, is a bisector always perpendicular?

When it is exactly at right angles to PQ it is called the perpendicular bisector. In general, 'to bisect' something means to cut it into two equal parts. The 'bisector' is the thing doing the cutting. With a perpendicular bisector, the bisector always crosses the line segment at right angles (90°).

Furthermore, are right bisector and perpendicular bisector the same thing? A (segment) bisector is any segment, line, or ray that splits another segment into two congruent parts. A perpendicular bisector is a special, more specific form of a segment bisector. In addition to splitting another segment into two equal parts, it also forms a right angle (90˚) with said segment.

Likewise, what is the difference between perpendicular bisector and altitude?

1 Answer. Segment joining a vertex to the mid-point of opposite side is called a median. Perpendicular from a vertex to opposite side is called altitude. A Line which passes through the mid-point of a segment and is perpendicular on the segment is called the perpendicular bisector of the segment.

What is a perpendicular line?

In elementary geometry, the property of being perpendicular (perpendicularity) is the relationship between two lines which meet at a right angle (90 degrees). The property extends to other related geometric objects. A line is said to be perpendicular to another line if the two lines intersect at a right angle.

39 Related Question Answers Found

What Cannot form a perpendicular bisector?

So, right triangle can form perpendicular bisector with base and height. Parallel lines can also form perpendicular bisector if a line is drawn from mid point of one line to mid point of another line. But circle can't as it is curved shape it needs line to make perpendicular bisector.

How do you construct a perpendicular line?

Construct: a line through P perpendicular to given line.
  1. STEPS:
  2. Place your compass point on P and swing an arc of any size that crosses the line twice.
  3. Place the compass point on one of the two locations where the arc crossed the line and make a small arc below the line (on the side where P is not located).

What is the meaning of bisector?

A bisector is something that cuts an object into two equal parts. It is applied to angles and line segments. In verb form, we say that it bisects the other object.

Why can't we bisect lines?

Bisector. A bisector is an object (a line, a ray, or line segment) that cuts another object (an angle, a line segment) into two equal parts. A bisector cannot bisect a line, because by definition a line is infinite.

What is the symbol for perpendicular bisector?


Table of symbols in geometry:
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition
perpendicular perpendicular lines (90° angle)
parallel parallel lines
congruent to equivalence of geometric shapes and size
~ similarity same shapes, not same size

What is the perpendicular bisector theorem?

Oh, and the perpendicular bisector theorem - the theorem states that if a point is on the perpendicular bisector of a segment, then it is equidistant from the segment's endpoints. The converse states that if a point is equidistant from the endpoints of a segment, then it is on the perpendicular bisector of the segment.

What does Circumcenter mean?

Definition of circumcenter. : the point at which the perpendicular bisectors of the sides of a triangle intersect and which is equidistant from the three vertices.

Are altitudes always perpendicular?

Altitudes are always perpendicular to their base. If the opposite corner isn't "above" the base, the altitude goes from the vertex to an imaginary line extended from the segment that forms the triangle's base.

Is an altitude always perpendicular to the opposite side?

The altitude of a triangle is a line from a vertex to the opposite side, that is perpendicular to that side, as shown in the animation above. A triangle therefore has three possible altitudes. The altitude is the shortest distance from a vertex to its opposite side.

Do altitudes bisect sides?


Firstly, your statement : "whenever I constructed an altitude it always bisected the base in half. An altitude from a vertex bisects the opposite base if and only if the two sides emerging from that particular vertex are equal(not necessary in a right angle triangle).

What is the perpendicular bisector of a triangle?

The perpendicular bisector of a side of a triangle is a line perpendicular to the side and passing through its midpoint. The three perpendicular bisectors of the sides of a triangle meet in a single point, called the circumcenter . A point where three or more lines intersect is called a point of concurrency.

Is altitude always 90 degree?

In geometry, the altitude is a line that passes through two very specific points on a triangle: a vertex, or corner of a triangle, and its opposite side at a right, or 90-degree, angle. This is because it touches a vertex of the triangle.

Can an angle bisector be a median?

No, median cannot be equal to the angle bisector (in general) because : Median is a line segment whose end points are the vertex and mid point of the opposite side of a triangle. while; Angular Bisector is a ray whose starting point is the vertex and which cuts the angle into two equal parts.

What is median and altitude?

Median – A line segment joining a vertex of a triangle with the mid-point of the opposite side. Altitude – A line segment joining a vertex of a triangle with the opposite side such that the segment is perpendicular to the opposite side.

What is the difference between an angle bisector and perpendicular bisector?


An angle bisector divides an angle into two congruent angles. A perpendicular bisector splits a segment into two congruent segments and is perpendicular to that segment.

What is altitude of a triangle?

In geometry, an altitude of a triangle is a line segment through a vertex and perpendicular to (i.e., forming a right angle with) a line containing the base (the side opposite the vertex). The length of the altitude, often simply called "the altitude", is the distance between the extended base and the vertex.

Can a perpendicular bisector be an angle bisector?

Only if the line segment that is being perpendicular bisected is running between two equal length sides. In an isosceles triangle, one perpendicular bisector is also an angle bisector. In an equilateral triangle all three perpendicular bisectors are also angle bisectors.