Algebraic proof of the theorem of butterflies in quadrilaterals

Fan Tai-Sheng
February 5, 2011
Republic of China (Taiwan)

Through the intersection I of the diagonals AC,BD of a quadrilateral ABCD, draw two lines EF and HG that meet the sides of ABCD in E, F, G, H. Let M and N be the intersections of EG and FH with AC. Then

1/IM - 1/IA =1/IN - 1/IC.

In the figure, in Cartesian coordinates, let AC lie on the x-axis, with I being the origin, and points A,B,C,D be (-a, 0), (-e, b), (c, 0), (ed, -bd) respectively. Then the sides AB, CD, BC and AD are represented by equations

AB: b(x + a) + (e - a)y = 0
CD: bd(x - c) + (de - c)y = 0
BC: b(x - c) + (c + e)y = 0
AD: bd(x + a) + (de + a)y = 0.

Since the lines EF and GH both pass through the origin I, they can be given by equations

EF: y - m1x = 0 and
GH: y - m2x = 0,

where m1 and m2 are the slopes of EF and GH respectively. Extend EF to cut the sides BC and AD at H' and G' respectively and also extend GH to cut the sides AB and CD at E' and F' respectively.

Now it can be easily seen that for parameters λ and μ, the equation

 f(x,y)= λAB(x,y)CD(x,y)BC(x,y)AD(x,y) + μ[EF(x,y)]²[GH(x,y)]²
  = λ[b(x + a) + (e - a)y][bd(x - c) + (de - c)y][b(x - c) + (c + e)y][bd(x + a) + (de + a)y]
   + μ(y - m1x)²(y - m2x)²
  = EG(x, y)FH(x, y)F'G'(x, y)E'H'(x, y)
  = 0.

describes the pencil of quartic curves that pass through the eight points E, F, G, H, E', F', G' and H'. Further, there exist some constant λ and μ such that a degenerate quartic curve of four straight lines passing through these points is uniquely determined. Hence we can choose the constants λ and μ such that the degenerate quartic function f(x, y) describes the four straight lines EG, FH, F'G' and E'H':

 f(x,y)= λ[b(x + a) + (e - a)y][bd(x - c) + (de - c)y][b(x - c) + (c + e)y][bd(x + a) + (de + a)y]
   + μ(y - m1x)²(y - m2x)²
  = EG(x, y)FH(x, y)F'G'(x, y)E'H'(x, y)
  = 0.

Now it can be seen in the figure that the line y = 0 cuts the four lines EG, FH, F'G' and E'H' at the points M, N, M' and N' respectively.

Hence the equation

f(x, 0) = λb4d2(x + a)2(x - c)2 + μm12m12x4 = 0

has four real roots {IM, IN, -IM', IN'} if λ and μ are oppositely signed. Setting μm12m12 /λb4d2 = -k2; the equation is equivalent to

(x + a)2(x - c)2 - k2x4 = 0.

Factoring the left-hand side gives two quadratic equations:

(1 + k)x² + (a - c)x - ac = 0 and
(1 - k)x² + (a - c)x - ac = 0.

Now it is obvious that the roots, say, x and x' of either of the two quadratic equations satisfy the following relation

1/x + 1/x' = (x + x')/xx' = -(a - c)/(1 ± k)/(-ac)/(1 ± k) = 1/c - 1/a.

Therefore it can be concluded that 1/IN - 1/IM = 1/IN' - 1/IM' = 1/IC - 1/IA is constant, namely,

(1)1/IM - 1/IA = 1/IN - 1/IC.

Now, by symmetry, it can be easily seen that in the figure, the intersections P and Q of lines EH and FG with the diagonal BD respectively have a similar property such that

(2)1/IP - 1/IQ = 1/IB - 1/ID = constant.

The quadrilateral ABCD itself can be seen as composed of two butterflies ACDBA and BDACB which both with their wing tips touching both diagonals AC and BD satisfy both equations (1) and (2). If we connect intersections inside the quadrilateral and extend lines to create intersections outside it we can get infinitely many butterflies which all have the properties of being invariant under the equations (1) and (2).

From the proof above it can be seen that the quadrilateral doesn’t have to be convex. Actually, butterflies inhabit in any quadrilateral defined by four points in general position, only the distances in equations (1) and (2) are signed according to the orientation of the line.

Butterfly Theorem and Variants

  1. Butterfly theorem
  2. 2N-Wing Butterfly Theorem
  3. Better Butterfly Theorem
  4. Butterflies in Ellipse
  5. Butterflies in Hyperbola
  6. Butterflies in Quadrilaterals and Elsewhere
  7. Pinning Butterfly on Radical Axes
  8. Shearing Butterflies in Quadrilaterals
  9. The Plain Butterfly Theorem
  10. Two Butterflies Theorem
  11. Two Butterflies Theorem II
  12. Two Butterflies Theorem III
  13. Algebraic proof of the theorem of butterflies in quadrilaterals
  14. William Wallace's Proof of the Butterfly Theorem
  15. Butterfly theorem, a Projective Proof
  16. Areal Butterflies
  17. Butterflies in Similar Co-axial Conics
  18. Butterfly Trigonometry
  19. Butterfly in Kite
  20. Butterfly with Menelaus
  21. William Wallace's 1803 Statement of the Butterfly Theorem
  22. Butterfly in Inscriptible Quadrilateral
  23. Camouflaged Butterfly
  24. General Butterfly in Pictures
  25. Butterfly via Ceva
  26. Butterfly via the Scale Factor of the Wings
  27. Butterfly by Midline
  28. Stathis Koutras' Butterfly
  29. The Lepidoptera of the Circles
  30. The Lepidoptera of the Quadrilateral
  31. The Lepidoptera of the Quadrilateral II
  32. The Lepidoptera of the Triangle
  33. Two Butterflies Theorem as a Porism of Cyclic Quadrilaterals
  34. Two Butterfly Theorems by Sidney Kung
  35. Butterfly in Complex Numbers

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