I was playing with a geometry software package and decided to explore Thales Theorem.
The theorem states that for any diameter line drawn through the circle with endpoints B and C on the circle (obviously passing through the circle’s center point), any third non-collinear point A on the circle can be used to form a right angle triangle. That is, no matter where you place A on the circle, the angle BAC is always a right angle. Most places I have read online stop there.
There was one small problem on my software. Since constructing this circle meant that the center point was already defined on my program, there didn’t seem to be a way to make the center point part of the line, except by manipulating the mouse or arrow keys. So, as a result, my angle ended up being slightly off: was the best I could do. But then, I noticed something else: No matter where point A was moved from then on, the angle would stay exactly the same, at
.
Now,
is not a right angle. Right angles have to be exactly
or go home. If it’s not a right angle, then Thales’ theorem should work for any angle.
Why not restate the theorem for internal angles in the circle a little more generally then?
For any chord with endpoints BC in the circle, and a point A in the major arc of the circle, all angles will all equal some angle
. For points A in the minor arc, all angles will be equal to
.

So, now the limitations of my software are unimportant. In the setup shown on the left, the circle contains the chord BC, and A lies in the major arc, forming an angle . If A lay in the minor arc, the angle would have been
.
By manipulating BC, you can obtain any angle you like, so long as
. More precisely, all angles in the minor arc drawn in the manner previously described will be
, and all angles in the major arc will tend to be:
. If the chord is actually the diameter line of the circle, then
exactly.