Polygon Basics

Basics
You must have come across various figures with many sides. Polygons are many-sided figures formed by straight line segments. Polygons are a family of figures, which may be different from each other as one may have more sides than the other. However, they bear different names according to the number of sides they possess. There are different types of polygons and some of the most familiar ones are triangle, rectangle and the square. The polygons, which have equal sides, are called regular polygons. Names of polygons with different number of sides Each polygon figure has a particular number of sides, number of vertices, number of diagonals and number of angles. The following chart would provide a better knowledge about the different types of polygons.

Polygons Triangle Quadrilateral Pentagon Hexagon Heptagon Octagon Nonagon Decagon

# of Sides 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

# of Vertices 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

# of Diagonals 0 2 5 9 14 20 27 35

# of Angles 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Details:

Though the word Polygon in Greek is a combination of "poly" meaning many and "gon" meaning angle, yet polygons also have important features in the form sides and vertices. You can also separate a polygon by drawing all the diagonals and it can be done by drawing from one single vertex. If you consider the above figure EFGH, which is a rectangle, you can separate the polygon by drawing the diagonal from vertex E to vertex G thus dividing the polygon into two triangles EFG and triangle EGH. Triangle

Triangle is the simplest form of polygon and it has three angles. Apart from that, it also has three sides and three vertices. The 'three' factor is very much associated with the word triangle as "tri" means three. Regular polygons

Regular polygons are the ones, which have all their sides congruent and equal. Finding out the summation of interior angles of a quadrilateral (having four sides): There is a very easy way to find out the sum of the interior angles of a polygon. If you consider "n" as the number of sides or angles that a polygon has then, you can use the formula to calculate the sum of the interior angles of a square. As a square has 4 sides you need take 4 in place of "n". sum sum sum sum of of of of angles angles angles angles = = = = ( n 2 )180 ( 4 2 )180 2 x 180 360

Finding out the summation of interior angles of a quadrilateral (having five sides): Similarly, you can also calculate the summation of the interior angles of a pentagon with the help of the same formula ( n 2 )180, where n is the number of sides. In case of a Pentagon: Sum Sum Sum Sum of of of of angles angles angles angles = = = = ( n 2 )180 ( 5 2 )180, as n = 5 in this case 3 x 180 540

Examples

Referring to the above 8-sided figure ABCDEFGH, we can say it is an Octagon. By drawing diagonals from the same vertex A to all the vertices, we can have 6 triangles. We can also find the summation of all the angles of this Regular Polygon, using the formula (n 2)180, where "n" is the total number of sides of the polygon. Thus, Sum of the sides of the Octagon = (8-2) 180 Sum of the sides of the Octagon = (6) 180 Sum of the sides of the Octagon = 1080

Polygon Basics Test

The image below is a regular polygon. Refer to the image below when answering problems 1-4:

1. What is this polygon called? Hexagon

2. How many diagonals in total can you draw within this polygon? Nine

3. How many diagonals can you draw from any one vertex within this polygon? Three

4. What is the sum of the angles of this polygon?

720 As, (n 2 )180 (6-2) 180 (4) 180 720

The image below is a regular polygon. Refer to the image below when answering problems 5-7:

5. What is this polygon called? Pentagon

6. How many triangles can you draw within this polygon by drawing diagonals from the vertex N? Three

7. What is the sum of the angles of this polygon? 540 As, (5 2 )180 (3) 180 540

In mathematics, pyramids refer to a family of solid objects with one polygonal base (triangle, quadrilateral, etc) and a number of triangles meeting at an apex above the base.

5 faces, 5 vertices and 8 edges for a square pyramid. 4 faces, 4 vertices and 6 edges for a triangular pyramid. If the base of the pyramid is a polygon with n sides, then the pyramid has: 2n edges (n + 1) faces (n + 1) vertices

Vertices, Edges and Faces

A vertex is a corner An edge joins one vertex with another A face is an individual surface
Let us look more closely at each of those:

Vertices

A vertex (plural: vertices) is a point where two or more straight lines meet. It is a Corner. This tetrahedron has 4 vertices.

And this pentagon has 5 vertices

Edges
An edge is a line segment that joins two vertices. This tetrahedron has 6 edges. And this pentagon has 5 edges

It can also be the boundary of a shape. Such as the circumference of a circle.

Faces

A face is any of the individual surfaces of a solid object. This tetrahedron has 4 faces (there is one face you can't see)

Euler's Formula
For many solid shapes the Number of Faces plus the Number of Vertices minus the Number of Edges

always equals 2

This can be written: F + V - E = 2

Try it on the cube: A cube has 6 Faces, 8 Vertices, and 12 Edges, so:

6 + 8 - 12 = 2
(To find out more about this read Euler's Formula.)

A tetrahedron has 4 faces and 4 vertices. How many edges does it have?

10

F+VE=2
4+4E=2

E=6

An octahedron has 8 faces and 12 edges. How many vertices does it have?

18

10

F+VE=2
8 + V 12 = 2 V=6 An icosahedron has 30 edges and 12 vertices. How many faces does it have?

14

16

18

20

F+VE=2
F + 12 30 = 2 F = 20 A dodecahedron has 12 faces and 20 vertices. How many edges does it have?

30

32

34

36

F+VE=2
12 + 20 E = 2 F = 30

Platonic Solids
A Platonic Solid is a 3D shape where: each face is the same regular polygon the same number of polygons meet at each vertex (corner)

Example: the Cube is a Platonic Solid

each face is the same-sized square 3 squares meet at each corner

There are only five platonic solids. The Platonic Solids

For each solid we have two printable nets (with and without tabs). You can make models with them! Print them on a piece of card, cut them out, tape the edges, and you will have your own platonic solids.

Tetrahedron
3 triangles meet at each vertex 4 Faces 4 Vertices 6 Edges Tetrahedron Net Tetrahedron Net (with tabs) Spin a Tetrahedron

Cube
3 squares meet at each vertex 6 Faces 8 Vertices 12 Edges Cube Net Cube Net (with tabs) Spin a Cube

Octahedron
4 triangles meet at each vertex 8 Faces 6 Vertices 12 Edges Octahedron Net Octahedron Net (with tabs) Spin an Octahedron

Dodecahedron
3 pentagons meet at each vertex 12 Faces 20 Vertices 30 Edges Dodecahedron Net Dodecahedron Net (with tabs) Spin a Dodecahedron

Icosahedron
5 triangles meet at each vertex 20 Faces 12 Vertices 30 Edges Icosahedron Net Icosahedron Net (with tabs) Spin an Icosahedron