Centroid, Incenter and Circumcenter of a

Triangle using Vector Notation

Kurt Nalty
December 25, 2007
Abstract
This is a note providing formulas for the centroid, incenter and cir-
cumcenter of a triangle, given three points, using vector notation.
Vector notation formulas for basic geometry are not common on the
web. I needed the formulas for the centroid, inscribed circle and circum-
scribed circle given a triangle for a design project, but could not nd the
inscribed and circumscribed formulas.
Having re-derived these formulas, I am posting them for convenience.
Point Denitions
Dene three points by

P1,

P2, and

P3. From these, dene the directed line
segments and lengths:

A =

P2

P1

B =

P3

P2

C =

P1

P3
Notice these are dened cyclically such that

A+

B +

C = 0.
Calculate lengths, semiperimeter and area
a = |

A|
b = |

B|
c = |

C|
s = (a +b +c)/2
K =

s (s a) (s b) (s c)
In vector form, the area is one half the cross product of any two sides.

K = (1/2)

A

B
= (1/2)

B

C
= (1/2)

C

A
1
Centroid
The centroid is the true average coordinate. This center is the intersection of
the segment bisectors to opposite vertice.

G = (1/3) (

P1 +

P2 +

P3) (1)
Incenter
The inscribed circle center is given by the weighted average of the coordinates
by the opposite side. The center is the intersection of the three angle bisectors.

I =
(b

P1 +c

P2 +a

P3)
a +b +c
(2)
The radius of the inscribed circle is
r =

(s a) (s b) (s c)/s
= K/s
Circumcenter or Exocenter
The circumcenter or exocenter is found by erect perpendicular bisectors from
each side. This center is the intersection of these lengths. Building o the

P1 -

P3 line, we have

E = (1/2)(

P1 +

P3) +

A

B
8K
2
(

C (

A

B)) (3)
The radius of the circumscribed circle is
R =
abc
4K
Notes
The equation of a line through a point is

L =

P +su
where

P is the known point, s is the distance travelled on the line from that
point, and u is the direction of the line (as a unit vector).
The distance between a point

C and a line dened by two points

P1 and

P2, as found by triangular area, is

d =
|(

P2

P1) (

C

P1)|
|

P2

P1|
2