Ramon Teves Pastor Memorial – Dumaguete Science High School

Prepared By: Miss Kassandra Venzuelo

1.6
Polygons

Objectives:

a) define and classify polygons;

b) determine the properties of a polygon;
c) solve for central angle, diagonals, angles, and
sides of a polygon.
Mathematical Ideas

Polygons

A polygon is a closed figure where the sides are all line segments. Each side must intersect exactly two others
sides but only at their endpoints. The sides must be non-collinear and have a common endpoint.

If each of the interior angles of a polygon is less than 180°, then it is called convex polygon.
Note: In this type of polygon, no portion of the diagonals lies in the exterior.

Examples of convex polygons:

In the adjoining figure of a rectangle there

are four interior angles i.e., ∠CBA, ∠DCB,
∠ADC and ∠BAD. None of the four interior
angles is greater than equal to 180°.

In the adjoining figure of a pentagon there

are five interior angles i.e., ∠ABC, ∠BCD,
∠CDE, ∠DEA and ∠EAB. None of the five
interior angles is greater than equal to 180°.

In the adjoining figure of a triangle there are

three interior angles i.e., ∠ABC, ∠BCA, and
∠CAB. None of the three interior angles is
greater than equal to 180°.
If at least one angle of a polygon is more than 180°, then it is called a concave polygon.

Examples of concave polygons:

In the adjoining figure of a hexagon there are

six interior angles i.e., ∠ABC, ∠BCD,
∠CDE, ∠DEF, ∠EFA and ∠FAB. Among
the six interior angles, ∠CDE is greater than
180°.

In the adjoining figure of a septagon there

are seven interior angles i.e., ∠ABC, ∠BCD,
∠CDE, ∠DEF, ∠EFG, ∠FGA and
∠GAB. Among the seven interior angles,
∠DEF is greater than 180°.

In the adjoining figure of a quadrilateral

there are four interior angles i.e., ∠ABC,
∠BCD, ∠CDA and ∠DAB. Among the four
interior angles, ∠BCD is greater than 180°.

Note: In this type of polygon, some portion of the diagonals lies in the exterior of the polygon.

In the above quadrilateral the portion of the diagonal AC i.e., CE lies in the exterior ∠BCD.

Regular polygon:

A polygon which has all its sides of equal length and all its angles of equal measures is called a regular polygon.

Examples of regular polygon:

In the adjoining figure of an equilateral triangle ABC there are

three sides i.e., AB, BC and CA are equal and there are three
angles i.e., ∠ABC, ∠BCA and ∠CAB are equal.

Therefore, an equilateral triangle is a regular polygon.

In the adjoining figure of a square ABCD there are four sides

i.e., AB, BC, CD and DA are equal and there are four angles
i.e., ∠ABC, ∠BCD, ∠CDA and ∠DAB are equal.

Therefore, a square is a regular polygon.

In the adjoining figure of a regular pentagon ABCDE there are
five sides i.e., AB, BC, CD, DE and EA are equal and there are
five angles i.e., ∠ABC, ∠BCD, ∠CDE, ∠DEA and ∠EAB are
equal.

Therefore, a regular pentagon is a regular polygon.

Irregular polygon:
A polygon which has all its sides of unequal length and all its angles of unequal measures is called an irregular
polygon.

Examples of irregular polygon:

In the adjoining figure of a scalene triangle ABC there are

three sides i.e., AB, BC and CA are unequal and there are
three angles i.e., ∠ABC, ∠BCA and ∠CAB are unequal.

Therefore, a scalene triangle is an irregular polygon.

In the adjoining figure of a rectangle ABCD there are four

sides i.e., AB, BC, CD and DA where the opposite sides are
equal i.e., AB = CD and BC = AD. So, all the sides are not
equal to each other.

Similarly, among the four angles i.e., ∠ABC, ∠BCD, ∠CDA

and ∠DAB where the opposite angles are equal i.e., ∠ABC =
∠CDA and ∠BCD = ∠DAB. So, all the angles are not equal to
each other.

Therefore, a square is an irregular polygon.

In the adjoining figure of an irregular hexagon ABCDEF there
are six sides i.e., AB, BC, CD, DE, EF and FA are equal and
there are six angles i.e., ∠ABC, ∠BCD, ∠CDE, ∠DEF, ∠EFA
and ∠FAB are equal.

Therefore, an irregular hexagon is an irregular polygon.

Polygons are also classified by how many sides (or angles) they have. The following lists the different types of
polygons and the number of sides that they have:

 A triangle is a three‐sided polygon.

 A quadrilateral is a four‐sided polygon.

 A pentagon is a five‐sided polygon.

 A hexagon is a six‐sided polygon.

 A heptagon is a seven‐sided polygon.

 An octagon is an eight‐sided polygon.

 A nonagon is a nine‐sided polygon.

 A decagon is a ten‐sided polygon.

 An undecagon is an eleven-sided polygon.

 A dodecagon is a twelve-sided polygon.

A vertex angle (interior angle) is an angle formed by two consecutive sides. A central angle is an angle
formed by the segments joining consecutive vertices to the center of a regular n-gon. An exterior angle
is an angle formed by a side and an extension of an adjacent side of the regular n-gon.

Interior Central
angle angle

exterior
angle

A diagonal of a polygon is a segment joining two nonconsecutive vertices of a convex polygon.

 Observe that each polygon is separated into triangles by means of diagonals, and all possible diagonals are drawn from
one vertex. If the sum of the measures of the angles of a triangle is 180, the sum of the measures of the angles of each
polygon can be found. Observe the pattern in the table below.

Polygon No. of Sides No. of Triangles Sum of Measures of Angles

Triangle 3 1 (1 x 180)
Quadrilateral 4 2 (2 x 180)
Pentagon 5 3 (3 x 180)
Hexagon 6 4 (4 x 180)
Heptagon 7 5 (5 x 180)
Octagon 8 6 (6 x 180)
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
n-gon n n-2 (n-2)180

Remember:

The sum of the measures of the interior angles of an n-gon is S = (n-2)180°, where n is the number of sides.

The sum of the measures of the exterior angles of any polygon is equal to 360°.

Triangles
A triangle is formed by 3 non-collinear segments joined at their endpoints.

Every triangle has secondary parts. It has three altitudes, three medians, and three angle bisectors.

 The altitude is the segment drawn from any vertex of a triangle perpendicular to the line containing the
opposite side.
 An angle bisector is a segment that divides (bisects) any angle of a triangle into 2 angles of equal
measures.
 A median is a segment drawn from any vertex of a triangle to the midpoint of the opposite side.

Classification of Triangles

1. Triangles according to their sides:

a) Scalene Triangle – a triangle with no two consecutive sides.

b) Isosceles Triangle – a triangle with two congruent sides.
c) Equilateral Triangle –a triangle with all three sides congruent.
 Equilateral

2. Triangles according to their angles:

a) Acute Triangle – a triangle with three acute angles. If the three acute angles are congruent, the triangle is
equilateral triangle.
b) Right Triangle – a triangle with a right angle. In a right triangle, the perpendicular sides forming the
right angle are called legs and the side opposite the right angle is called hypotenuse.
c) Obtuse Triangle - a triangle with an obtuse angle.
d) Equiangular Triangle – a triangle with all its angles congruent.

Quadrilaterals

 A quadrilateral is a four-sided polygon.

 There are three kinds of quadrilaterals: the general quadrilateral or trapezium, the trapezoid, and the
parallelogram.
 The general quadrilateral or trapezium has no parallel sides.
 The trapezoid has one pair of opposite parallel sides. The parallel The parallel sides are bases and
the nonparallel sides are called legs.
 The parallelogram has two pairs of parallel sides. It can be a rectangle, It can be a rectangle, a
rhombus, or a square.
 A rectangle is a parallelogram with four right angles.
 A rhombus is a parallelogram with four congruent sides.
 A square is a parallelogram with four congruent sides and four congruent angles.
 The sum of the measures of the interior angles of a quadrilateral is 360°.
  The exterior angle of a quadrilateral is an angle which forms a linear pair with any of the angles ∠s
of the quadrilateral.
 A quadrilateral is named by its vertices.
B

A C

D
In the figure above, the quadrilateral is named ABCD or BCDA or CDAB or DABC, but never as ACBD or ADBC. The
order of the vertices is important.

Is called a
trapezium

Central Angle of a Polygon

Definition: The angle subtended at the center of the polygon by one of its sides.

The central angle is the angle made at the center of the polygon by any two adjacent vertices of the polygon. If
you were to draw a line from any two adjacent vertices to the center, they would make the central angle.
Because the polygon is regular, all central angles are equal. It does not matter which side you choose.

All central angles would add up to 360° (a full circle), so the measure of the central angle is 360 divided by the
number of sides. Or, as a formula:

∠central angle =360°/n

where
n is the number of sides
The measure of the central angle thus depends only on the number of sides. In the figure above, resize the
polygon and note that the central angle does not change. The angle depends only on the number of sides, not the
size of the polygon. If you change the number of sides, you will see that as the number of sides gets larger, the
central angle gets smaller.

A diagonal of a polygon is a line from a vertex to a non-adjacent vertex. So a triangle, the simplest polygon,
has no diagonals. You cannot draw a line from one interior angle to any other interior angle that is not also a
side of the triangle. A quadrilateral, the next-simplest, has two diagonals. A pentagon, whether regular or
irregular, has five diagonals.

In convex, simple polygons, diagonals will always be within the interior. Consider a rectangular door. You can
run a line from the top hinge corner to the bottom, opposite corner. You can also run a line from the bottom
hinge corner up to the top, opposite corner. Those are the only two diagonals possible.

In concave, simple polygons, the diagonals may go outside the polygon, crossing sides and partly lying in the
shape's exterior. They are still diagonals. Darts and stars are typical examples of concave polygons with
diagonals outside their shapes.

Example:

 A square (or any quadrilateral) has :

 an octagon has :

 a triangle has :