Distance from a point to a line the perpendicular "R". Draw the vertical line through "P" and label its intersection with the given line "S". At any point "T" on the line, draw a right triangle "TVU" whose sides are horizontal and vertical line segments with hypotenuse "TU" on the given line and horizontal side of length |"B"| (see diagram). The vertical side of ∆"TVU" will have length |"A"| since the line has slope -"A"/"B". ∆"PRS" and ∆"TVU" are similar triangles, since they are both right triangles and ∠"PSR" ≅ ∠"TUV" since they are corresponding angles of a transversal to the parallel lines "PS" and "UV" (both
Incircle and excircles of a triangle has area formula_39. Similarly, formula_40 has area formula_41 and formula_42 has area formula_43. Since these three triangles decompose formula_35, we see that the area formula_45 is: where formula_48 is the area of formula_35 and formula_50 is its semiperimeter. For an alternative formula, consider formula_51. This is a right-angled triangle with one side equal to "r" and the other side equal to formula_52. The same is true for formula_53. The large triangle is composed of 6 such triangles and the total area is: The Gergonne triangle (of "ABC") is defined by the 3 touchpoints of the incircle on the 3 sides.