How will you know if two triangles are similar compare and contrast the different similarity statements?

If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website.

If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked.

In today’s geometry lesson, you’re going to learn about the triangle similarity theorems, SSS (side-side-side) and SAS (side-angle-side).

How will you know if two triangles are similar compare and contrast the different similarity statements?

Jenn, Founder Calcworkshop®, 15+ Years Experience (Licensed & Certified Teacher)

In total, there are 3 theorems for proving triangle similarity:

  1. AA Theorem
  2. SAS Theorem
  3. SSS Theorem

Let’s jump in!

How do we create proportionality statements for triangles? And how do we show two triangles are similar?

Being able to create a proportionality statement is our greatest goal when dealing with similar triangles. By definition, we know that if two triangles are similar than their corresponding angles are congruent and their corresponding sides are proportional.

AA Theorem

As we saw with the AA similarity postulate, it’s not necessary for us to check every single angle and side in order to tell if two triangles are similar. Thanks to the triangle sum theorem, all we have to show is that two angles of one triangle are congruent to two angles of another triangle to show similar triangles.

But the fun doesn’t stop here. There are two other ways we can prove two triangles are similar.

SAS Theorem

What happens if we only have side measurements, and the angle measures for each triangle are unknown? If we can show that all three sides of one triangle are proportional to the three sides of another triangle, then it follows logically that the angle measurements must also be the same.

In other words, we are going to use the SSS similarity postulate to prove triangles are similar.

SSS Theorem

Or what if we can demonstrate that two pairs of sides of one triangle are proportional to two pairs of sides of another triangle, and their included angles are congruent?

This too would be enough to conclude that the triangles are indeed similar. As ck-12 nicely states, using the SAS similarity postulate is enough to show that two triangles are similar.

But is there only one way to create a proportion for similar triangles? Or can more than one suitable proportion be found?

Triangle Similarity Theorems

Just as two different people can look at a painting and see or feel differently about the piece of art, there is always more than one way to create a proper proportion given similar triangles.

And to aid us on our quest of creating proportionality statements for similar triangles, let’s take a look at a few additional theorems regarding similarity and proportionality.

1. If a segment is parallel to one side of a triangle and intersects the other two sides, then the triangle formed is similar to the original and the segment that divides the two sides it intersects is proportional.

How will you know if two triangles are similar compare and contrast the different similarity statements?

Proportional Segment Theorem

2. If three parallel lines intersect two transversals, then they divide the transversals proportionally.

How will you know if two triangles are similar compare and contrast the different similarity statements?

Proportional Transversal Theorem

3. The corresponding medians are proportional to their corresponding sides.

How will you know if two triangles are similar compare and contrast the different similarity statements?

Corresponding Medians

4. If a ray bisects an angle or a triangle, then it divides the opposite side into segments whose lengths are proportional to the lengths of the other two sides.

How will you know if two triangles are similar compare and contrast the different similarity statements?

Ray Bisecting a Triangle Creating Proportional Sides

5. The perimeters of similar polygons are proportional to their corresponding sides.

How will you know if two triangles are similar compare and contrast the different similarity statements?

Perimeter of Similar Polygons

Together we are going to use these theorems and postulates to prove similar triangles and solve for unknown side lengths and perimeters of triangles.

Triangle Theorems – Lesson & Examples (Video)

1 hr 10 min

  • Introduction SSS and SAS Similarity Postulates
  • 00:00:19 – Overview of Proportionality Statements for Segments Parallel to a Side of a Triangle
  • 00:15:24 – Find the value of x given similar triangles (Examples #1-6)
  • 00:28:42 – Given three parallel lines cut by two transversals, find the value of x (Example #7)
  • 00:31:36 – Overview of SSS and SAS Similarity Postulates and Similarity Theorems
  • Exclusive Content for Member’s Only
  • 00:35:37 – Determine whether the triangles are similar, and create a similarity statement (Examples #8-12)
  • 00:51:37 – Find the unknown value given similar triangles (Examples #13-18)
  • 01:02:36 – Find the unknown value or create the proportion for finding perimeter (Examples #19-21)
  • 01:10:16 – Given similar triangles, find the perimeter (Examples #22-23)
  • Practice Problems with Step-by-Step Solutions
  • Chapter Tests with Video Solutions

Get access to all the courses and over 450 HD videos with your subscription

Monthly and Yearly Plans Available

Get My Subscription Now

Still wondering if CalcWorkshop is right for you?
Take a Tour and find out how a membership can take the struggle out of learning math.

How will you know if two triangles are similar compare and contrast the different similarity statements?

Similarity in mathematics does not mean the same thing that similarity in everyday life does. Similar triangles are triangles with the same shape but different side measurements.

Similar Triangles Definition

Mint chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate chip ice cream are similar, but not the same. This is an everyday use of the word "similar," but it not the way we use it in mathematics.

In geometry, two shapes are similar if they are the same shape but different sizes. You could have a square with sides 21 cm and a square with sides 14 cm; they would be similar. An equilateral triangle with sides 21 cm and a square with sides 14 cm would not be similar because they are different shapes.

Similar triangles are easy to identify because you can apply three theorems specific to triangles. These three theorems, known as Angle - Angle (AA), Side - Angle - Side (SAS), and Side - Side - Side (SSS), are foolproof methods for determining similarity in triangles.

  1. Angle - Angle (AA)
  2. Side - Angle - Side (SAS)
  3. Side - Side - Side (SSS)

In geometry, correspondence means that a particular part on one polygon relates exactly to a similarly positioned part on another. Even if two triangles are oriented differently from each other, if you can rotate them to orient in the same way and see that their angles are alike, you can say those angles correspond.

The three theorems for similarity in triangles depend upon corresponding parts. You look at one angle of one triangle and compare it to the same-position angle of the other triangle.

How will you know if two triangles are similar compare and contrast the different similarity statements?

Proportion

Similarity is related to proportion. Triangles are easy to evaluate for proportional changes that keep them similar. Their comparative sides are proportional to one another; their corresponding angles are identical.

You can establish ratios to compare the lengths of the two triangles' sides. If the ratios are congruent, the corresponding sides are similar to each other.

Included Angle

The included angle refers to the angle between two pairs of corresponding sides. You cannot compare two sides of two triangles and then leap over to an angle that is not between those two sides.

Proving Triangles Similar

Here are two congruent triangles. To make your life easy, we made them both equilateral triangles.

How will you know if two triangles are similar compare and contrast the different similarity statements?

△FOX is compared to △HEN. Notice that ∠O on △FOX corresponds to ∠E on △HEN. Both ∠O and ∠E are included angles between sides FO and OX on △FOX, and sides HE and EN on △HEN.

Side FO is congruent to side HE; side OX is congruent to side EN, and ∠O and ∠E are the included, congruent angles.

The two equilateral triangles are the same except for their letters. They are the same size, so they are identical triangles. If they both were equilateral triangles but side EN was twice as long as side HE, they would be similar triangles.

Triangle Similarity Theorems

How will you know if two triangles are similar compare and contrast the different similarity statements?

Angle-Angle (AA) Theorem

Angle-Angle (AA) says that two triangles are similar if they have two pairs of corresponding angles that are congruent. The two triangles could go on to be more than similar; they could be identical. For AA, all you have to do is compare two pairs of corresponding angles.

Trying Angle-Angle

Here are two scalene triangles △JAM and △OUT. We have already marked two of each triangle's interior angles with the geometer's shorthand for congruence: the little slash marks. A single slash for interior ∠A and the same single slash for interior ∠U mean they are congruent. Notice ∠M is congruent to ∠T because they each have two little slash marks.

Since ∠A is congruent to ∠U, and ∠M is congruent to ∠T, we now have two pairs of congruent angles, so the AA Theorem says the two triangles are similar.

How will you know if two triangles are similar compare and contrast the different similarity statements?

Watch for trickery from textbooks, online challenges, and mathematics teachers. Sometimes the triangles are not oriented in the same way when you look at them. You may have to rotate one triangle to see if you can find two pairs of corresponding angles.

Another challenge: two angles are measured and identified on one triangle, but two different angles are measured and identified on the other one.

Because each triangle has only three interior angles, one each of the identified angles has to be congruent. By subtracting each triangle's measured, identified angles from 180°, you can learn the measure of the missing angle. Then you can compare any two corresponding angles for congruence.

Side-Angle-Side (SAS) Theorem

The second theorem requires an exact order: a side, then the included angle, then the next side. The Side-Angle-Side (SAS) Theorem states if two sides of one triangle are proportional to two corresponding sides of another triangle, and their corresponding included angles are congruent, the two triangles are similar.

Trying Side-Angle-Side

Here are two triangles, side by side and oriented in the same way. △RAP and △EMO both have identified sides measuring 37 inches on △RAP and 111 inches on △EMO, and also sides 17 on △RAP and 51 inches on △EMO. Notice that the angle between the identified, measured sides is the same on both triangles: 47°.

How will you know if two triangles are similar compare and contrast the different similarity statements?

Is the ratio 37/111 the same as the ratio 17/51? Yes; the two ratios are proportional, since they each simplify to 1/3. With their included angle the same, these two triangles are similar.

Side-Side-Side (SSS) Theorem

The last theorem is Side-Side-Side, or SSS. This theorem states that if two triangles have proportional sides, they are similar. This might seem like a big leap that ignores their angles, but think about it: the only way to construct a triangle with sides proportional to another triangle's sides is to copy the angles.

Trying Side-Side-Side

Here are two triangles, △FLO and △HIT. Notice we have not identified the interior angles. The sides of △FLO measure 15, 20 and 25 cms in length. The sides of △HIT measure 30, 40 and 50 cms in length.

How will you know if two triangles are similar compare and contrast the different similarity statements?

You need to set up ratios of corresponding sides and evaluate them:

1530 = 12

2040 = 12

2550 = 12

They all are the same ratio when simplified. They all are 12. So even without knowing the interior angles, we know these two triangles are similar, because their sides are proportional to each other.

Lesson Summary

Now that you have studied this lesson, you are able to define and identify similar figures, and you can describe the requirements for triangles to be similar (they must either have two congruent pairs of corresponding angles, two proportional corresponding sides with the included corresponding angle congruent, or all corresponding sides proportional).

You also can apply the three triangle similarity theorems, known as Angle - Angle (AA), Side - Angle - Side (SAS) or Side - Side - Side (SSS), to determine if two triangles are similar.

Next Lesson:

Triangle Congruence Postulates