Math 330B - Exam 2
- Solutions
1. State the following definitions: (3 pts. each)
a. The definition of a glide reflection.
b. The `vector' definition of a reflection.
Both of these definitions appear in the notes.
2. Circle the best answer. (2 pt. each)
a. In an elliptic plane, a motion (
always ) has one (or more) fixed
points.
- Each motion is a rotation.
b. In a Euclidean plane, if a motion has exactly one fixed point, then the
motion is ( never ) a
translation.
c. In a Euclidean plane, if a motion has two intersecting fixed lines, then
the motion is (
sometimes
) a reflection - It could be a reflection or a half turn.
d. In a Euclidean plane, if a motion has exactly one fixed line, then the
motion is (
always) a glide reflection.
e. A motion of the form

is (
sometimes) a proper motion. - In the
elliptic plane, every motion is a rotation and hence a proper
motion.
f. In hyperbolic or Euclidean geometry, if a line is transversal to two
parallel lines, then the corresponding angles are (
sometimes
) congruent. - That there are always congruent is equivalent to the
Euclidean parallel postulate.
g. In hyperbolic or Euclidean geometry, if a line that is transversal to two
lines forms congruent corresponding angles, then the lines are (
always)
parallel.- This is a theorem of absolute geometry.
h. A proof of the Pythagorean theorem (
always)
relies upon the Euclidean Parallel Postulate. - In fact, in metric geometry
the Pythagorean theorem is equivalent to the Euclidean parallel
postulate.
i. The matrix

corresponds to a (
rotation
).
This corresponds to a rotation of

degrees.
j. If a geometry satisfies the Ruler Postulate, a line (
always)
contains an infinite number of points. - Since a coordinate system is
one-to-one and onto, there will be as many points on the line as there are
real numbers.
3. The law of cosines asserts that for any triangle

one has that

Provide the reason for each step in the following proof. This proof is similar
in approach and style to the proof of the law of sines. Since you do not have
an axiom and theorem list for absolute geometry, it is sufficient to give an
informal statement of the axiom or theorem you are citing.
Let

be the foot of the perpendicular dropped from

to the line

a. Then one of the following cases must occur:


or

Why?
This follows from the betweenness axioms. Given three distinct collinear
points, one must be between the other two. The cases

and

cover the situation of only two distinct points.
We will only consider the case

(The other cases are similar; you may enjoy trying them at home.) above
diagram may be useful.
b. In this case the angles

and

are supplementary and

is obtuse.Why? ( 1 pts.)
Notice that

and

are opposite rays and hence

and

are a linear pair and thus supplementary. As

is an exterior angle to

and

is a right angle, the exterior angle theorem yields

is obtuse.
c.

Why? ( 1 pt.)
Note that, since

is acute,

Now, as

and

are supplementary,

and hence

d.

Why? ( 1
pt.)

Note that, since

is acute,

Now, as

and

are supplementary,

and hence

e.

Why? ( 1 pt.)
As

it follows that

f.

Why? ( 1 pt.)
Note that

is a right triangle with hypotenuse

Thus the Pythagorean theorem yields that

g.

Why? ( 1 pt.)
Substitution of

and

into (e) and (f).
h.

Why? (1 pt.)

where
the last equality follows from the identity

4. Prove one of the following statements:(8 pts.)
a. Using any result prior to Theorem 34: A motion of the form

is a quasi-rotation.
b. Using any result prior to Theorem 39: Suppose that

and

are two parallel lines in a Euclidean plane. Prove that there is a line

which is perpendicular to both

and

.
(i.e.,

and

admit a common perpendicular.)
c. State and then prove the Pythagorean theorem using properties of similar
triangles.
These all appear in the notes.
5. Prove one of the following: (12 pts. each)
a. Using any result prior to Theorem 36: Any motion (i.e., composition of finitely many reflections) can be described as the composition of three or fewer reflections.
b. Using the vector definitions for reflections and translations, prove that
if

and

are two parallel lines (in

),
then there is a vector

such that

.
c. Consider the line

in

.
Using the taxi-cab distance function, find a coordinate system

for

(Recall that

)
The solutions to 5.a. and 5.b. appear in the notes.
For 5.c., the mapping

is a coordinate system for

The steps for showing that it is one-to-one, onto and distance preserving are
similar to the solutions that appear in the last progress report.
6. Given the line

and

sketch the location of

and

such that

(4 pts.)
There are variety of correct solutions. However, for any solution,

must be on the dashed line and the line

must be parallel to the thick line in the diagram given below. (The figure has
been distorted in the transfer from GSP to the word processing program. The
dashed line and line

should be perpendicular to one another.)
