Department of Innovation and Didactic Training University of Alicante

Didactics of Mathematics

T02 – POLYGONS AND CIRCULAR FIGURES

1. POLYGONS

Polygonal line. Line formed by several consecutive rectilinear segments

belonging to different lines. The figure represents an open polygonal line.

Polygon. Polygon is the portion of the plane delimited by a closed polygonal line (the
origin and the end coincide) in which the segments do not intersect and the vertices
belong to only two segments.

Each segment that defines it is called a side. Two consecutive sides meet at a point
called the vertex. The angle between two consecutive sides inside the polygon is an
interior angle, and the angle formed by one side with the extension of another
consecutive side is an exterior angle.

Polygon names according to the number of sides:

Number of sides Name Number of sides Name

3 Triangle 9 Enneagon/Nonagon
4 Quadrilateral 10 Decagon
5 Pentagon 11 Hendecagon/Undecagon
6 Hexagon 12 Dodecagon
7 Heptagon/Septagon n Polygon of n sides
8 Octagon

Diagonal of a polygon. Segment that joins two non-consecutive vertices.

Example.1. Some diagonals from a vertex Example 2. Diagonals in a polygon

The total number of diagonals of any polygon can be calculated using the formula
n∙(n-3)/2, where n is the number of sides of the polygon.

https://www.geogebra.org/m/snphdsmn

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Department of Innovation and Didactic Training University of Alicante
Didactics of Mathematics

Concave polygon. If any interior angle is greater than 180º.

Convex polygon. If all the interior angles are less than 180º. A polygon is convex if
any two interior points can be joined by a segment that is completely included in the
polygon.

At each vertex of a convex polygon there is an interior angle and two exterior angles.
The two exterior angles are congruent since they are opposite angles. At each vertex, the
interior angle and the exterior angle are supplementary (the sum is 180º).
https://www.geogebra.org/m/fnx2khgq

The sum of the interior angles of a convex polygon is (n-2)∙180º, where n is the
number of sides. The process followed to identify the formula is based on a
triangulation process (forming triangles).

https://www.geogebra.org/m/nb6bvsje https://www.geogebra.org/m/dnzst5rb

The sum of the exterior angles of a convex polygon is 360º, considering only one of
the two exterior angles in each vertex.

Regular polygon. A polygon that has all its sides and angles congruent.

Elements of a regular polygon:

Center: interior point equidistant from all vertices.

Radius: segment that joins the center with a vertex.

Central angle: angle formed by two consecutive radii of

the polygon.

Apothem: segment that joins the center to the midpoint of

one side.

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Department of Innovation and Didactic Training University of Alicante
Didactics of Mathematics

1.1. TRIANGLES

Triangle. A three-sided polygon.

Types of triangles based on the length of the sides:

- Equilateral: All three sides are equal.

- Isosceles: Two equal sides (Alternative: Two equal sides and the third side has a
different length).
- Scalene: The three sides have different lengths.

Types of triangles based on their angles:

- Right triangle: It has a right angle.

- Acute triangle: It has three acute angles.
- Obtuse triangle: It has an obtuse angle.

Remarkable straight lines and points in a triangle:

Height from vertex A. The perpendicular to the line that

contains the side BC and passes through A.

Orthocenter. It is the point where the three heights of a

triangle meet.

Median of a triangle with respect to vertex A. It is the

straight line that joins vertex A to the midpoint of the
opposite side.

Barycenter. The point of intersection of the three medians.

Segment bisector of a triangle. Line perpendicular to a

side at its midpoint.

Circumcenter. It is the point of intersection of the three

segment bisectors.

Interior angle bisector of a triangle. It is the bisector of an

interior angle.

Incenter. Point where the three angle bisectors meet.

Geogebra: https://www.geogebra.org/m/hqfjmn2p

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Department of Innovation and Didactic Training University of Alicante
Didactics of Mathematics

1.2. QUADRILATERALS

Quadrilaterals. Polygon with four sides.

Classification based on whether it has parallel sides:

a) Parallelograms: Two pairs of parallel sides.

b) Trapeziums: Two parallel sides and two non-parallel sides.
c) Trapezoids (or juts quadrilaterals): No parallel sides.

a) PARALLELOGRAMS (two pairs of parallel sides)

By angles By lengths of
sides
Rectangle It has 4 equal angles (i.e. 4 right angles)
Square It has 4 equal angles (i.e. 4 right angles) 4 equal sides Regular polygon
Rhombus 4 equal sides
Note - The parallelogram that is neither a rectangle nor a rhombus is sometimes called
a RHOMBOID

b) TRAPEZIUM (two of its sides are parallel)

Right trapezium One side is perpendicular to the base (i.e., two right angles)
Isosceles trapezium The two non-parallel sides are of equal length
Scalene trapezium (“trapezium” is normally used in reference to those trapezia
that are neither right nor isosceles)

c) TRAPEZOID (quadrilateral that has no parallel sides)

Note 1. The term “kite” is sometimes used to refer to a trapezoid with two pairs of
adjacent sides of equal length (different from the other two).

http://recursostic.educacion.es/descartes/web/materiales_didacticos/Los_cuadrilateros__
fmi/index.htm

http://roble.pntic.mec.es/jarran2/cabriweb/cuadrilat/cuadrilateros.htm

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Department of Innovation and Didactic Training University of Alicante
Didactics of Mathematics

2. CIRCULAR FIGURES

Circle of center A and radius r. A circle is a set of all points of a plane which are
equidistant from point A (center) which is equal to r (radius).

Geometric elements in a circle:

Circumference. It refers to the enclosed boundary of

the circle. We can say that it is the perimeter of the
circle (2πr).

Radius. The length of the segment from the center of

the circle to an endpoint on the circle.

Diameter. It is the segment joining a point from one

end of the circle to a point on the other end of the circle,
passing through the center (diameter = 2 x radius).

Chord. The segment in which the ends are two different

points that lie on the circumference of a circle.

Arc of a circle. A part of a circumference limited by

two of its points.

Circular sector. A part of a circle enclosed by two radii

and the arc that connects them.

Circular segment. A part of a circle enclosed by a

chord and the arc that connects both ends of the chord.

Annulus. A region bounded by two concentric circles (a

ring-shaped object).

Circular trapezoid. A part of the annulus enclosed by

two radii.

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Department of Innovation and Didactic Training University of Alicante
Didactics of Mathematics

Angles in a circle

Considering the position of the vertex with respect to the circumference they are called:

- Central angle. It has the vertex at the center of the circle.

PQ is an arc of the circle. The angle ^POQ is called central
angle. The angular measure of PQ is the measure of the
angle ^POQ.

- Eccentric angles. The vertex is not the center of the circle.

o Internal angle. The vertex is inside the circle. ^RAS is

an internal angle.

o External angle. The vertex is outside the circle. ^RCS

is an external angle.

o Inscribed angle. It has the vertex on the circumference

and the sides are chords. ^RBS is an inscribed angle and
̅̅̅̅ and ̅̅̅̅
𝐵𝑅 𝐵𝑆 are chords.

Properties

- The measure of an inscribed angle on a circle is equal to half the arc it covers
(that is, it measures half the corresponding central angle).

- Two inscribed angles on a circle spanning the same arc are congruent.

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Department of Innovation and Didactic Training University of Alicante
Didactics of Mathematics

3. AREAS OF GEOMETRIC FIGURES

- Meaning of area. he measurement of

an area gives surface units (bxh)

- In a parallelogram (bxh)

- In a triangle (bxh/2)

- In a trapezium (a+b)h/2

- Circle (πr2)

In the following link you can see how to obtain some of these areas:

http://www.xente.mundo-r.com/ilarrosa/GeoGebra/index_areas_volumenes.html