If the kite is in quadrant I with pt. C on x axis and  and pt. D on y axis, pt. A directly above pt. C and pt. B directly across and to the right of pt. D.  I have assigned these variables to each pt.  Pt. C (C,0)  pt.D  (0,D)  pt B  (B,D)  pt A  (C,A)

Slope of AC= -A/0    Slope DB=0/B    Shouldn't the slope be -1?  aren't the lines in a kite perpendicular lines?  what am I doing wrong?
in Geometry Answers by Level 1 User (200 points)

Your answer

Your name to display (optional):
Privacy: Your email address will only be used for sending these notifications.
Anti-spam verification:
To avoid this verification in future, please log in or register.

1 Answer

In your figure AB must equal AD in length, and DC must equal CB in length so that you get a kite. If you join D to B you have two isosceles triangles with common side DB, and the triangles are DAB and DCB.

If you drop a perpendicular from vertex A to DB, DB will be bisected, and the angle at vertex A will also be bisected. Similarly DB will be bisected, and the angle at vertex C will be bisected, if you drop a perpendicular from C to DB. If X is the midpoint of DB, then AXC is a straight line perpendicular to DB, but AC and DB are the diagonals of the kite so the diagonals of a kite intersect at right angles.

The coords of A must be (B/2,A) and C must be (B/2,0). This means you can’t use C(C,0) as an arbitrary point, or you will not get a kite.

The slope of a vertical line is infinite (AC is a vertical line). The slope of a horizontal line is zero. You cannot use mm'=-1 to find the slope m' of a perpendicular to a line with slope m, if m is infinite or zero.

If you regraph the kite so that one of its sides is horizontal then you will find you can use mm'=-1 when you apply it to the slopes of the diagonals. 

In the picture, the black quadrilateral ABCD is a kite, but the red quadrilateral ABCD is not a kite, and its perpendicular diagonals are not bisectors of any sort. The red vertex C is arbitrarily placed, whereas the black vertex C is placed so that black ABCD is a kite.

by Top Rated User (1.2m points)

Related questions

1 answer
asked Nov 10, 2011 in Geometry Answers by anonymous | 806 views
1 answer
asked May 5, 2013 in Geometry Answers by anonymous | 574 views
1 answer
1 answer
asked Feb 2, 2013 in Geometry Answers by anonymous | 2.2k views
2 answers
3 answers
asked Sep 21, 2011 in Geometry Answers by anonymous | 4.1k views
6 answers
Welcome to MathHomeworkAnswers.org, where students, teachers and math enthusiasts can ask and answer any math question. Get help and answers to any math problem including algebra, trigonometry, geometry, calculus, trigonometry, fractions, solving expression, simplifying expressions and more. Get answers to math questions. Help is always 100% free!
87,516 questions
100,279 answers
2,420 comments
731,052 users