In plane geometry, a pedal triangle is obtained by projecting a point onto the sides of a triangle.
More specifically, consider a triangle △ABC, and a point P that is not one of the vertices A, B, C. Drop perpendiculars from P to the three sides of the triangle (these may need to be produced, i.e., extended). Label L, M, N the intersections of the lines from P with the sides BC, AC, AB. The pedal triangle is then △LMN.
If △ABC is not an obtuse triangle and P is the orthocenter, then the angles of △LMN are 180° − 2A, 180° − 2B and 180° − 2C.[1]
The location of the chosen point P relative to the chosen triangle △ABC gives rise to some special cases:
The vertices of the pedal triangle of an interior point P, as shown in the top diagram, divide the sides of the original triangle in such a way as to satisfy Carnot's theorem:[2]