Triangle of these conditions hold: (a) each of the angles is positive, and (b) the angles sum to 180°. If degenerate triangles are permitted, angles of 0° are permitted. Three positive angles "α", "β", and "γ", each of them less than 180°, are the angles of a triangle if and only if any one of the following conditions holds: the last equality applying only if none of the angles is 90° (so the tangent function's value is always finite). There are thousands of different constructions that find a special point associated with (and often inside) a triangle, satisfying some unique property:
Triangle inequality angles satisfy: Therefore, and so, in particular, That means side opposite angle is shorter than side opposite the larger angle . But . Hence: A similar construction shows , establishing the theorem. An alternative proof (also based upon the triangle postulate) proceeds by considering three positions for point : (i) as depicted (which is to be proven), or (ii) coincident with (which would mean the isosceles triangle had two right angles as base angles plus the vertex angle , which would violate the triangle postulate), or lastly, (iii) interior to the right triangle between points and (in which case angle