Poncelet's closure theorem
Theorem of 2D geometry / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Poncelet's closure theorem?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
In geometry, Poncelet's closure theorem, also known as Poncelet's porism, states that whenever a polygon is inscribed in one conic section and circumscribes another one, the polygon must be part of an infinite family of polygons that are all inscribed in and circumscribe the same two conics.[1][2] It is named after French engineer and mathematician Jean-Victor Poncelet, who wrote about it in 1822;[3] however, the triangular case was discovered significantly earlier, in 1746 by William Chapple.[4]
Poncelet's porism can be proved by an argument using an elliptic curve, whose points represent a combination of a line tangent to one conic and a crossing point of that line with the other conic.