Perpendicular Bisector

We worked on perpendicular bisectors in grade 10 math. The challenge was to locate the points A(-3,0) and B(5,0), and then to find as many points as possible that were an equal distance to A and B.

We had a discussion about how we knew that these points were all the same distance to A and B, by using the distance formula/pythagorean theorem.

We did the same task but with points A(0,3) and B(0,7). We noticed that the line of equal distanced points is perpendicular to the initial segment, and went through the midpoint.

The next challenge was to use the points A(1,2) and B(3,6)

we know that the slope of the segment is 2/1 so the slope of the line we draw is -1/2. We know the line goes through the midpoint, and we’re great at calculating midpoints!

Our final step is to make the equation of the line, which we learned is called the perpendicular bisector (médiatrice). We’re able to use our skills from lap 1 to help us a lot with these questions.