What is a Polygon?
A closed plane figure made up of several line segments that are joined together. The sides do not cross each other. Exactly two sides meet at every vertex.
A closed plane figure made up of several line segments that are joined together. The sides do not cross each other. Exactly two sides meet at every vertex.
Types of Polygons
Regular - all angles are equal and all sides are the same length. Regular polygons are both equiangular and equilateral.
Equiangular - all angles are equal.
Equilateral - all sides are the same length.
Regular - all angles are equal and all sides are the same length. Regular polygons are both equiangular and equilateral.
Equiangular - all angles are equal.
Equilateral - all sides are the same length.
Convex - a straight line drawn through a convex polygoncrosses at most two sides. Every interior angle is less than 180°. | |
Concave - you can draw at least one straight line through a concave polygon that crosses more than two sides. At least one interior angle is more than 180°. |
Polygon Formulas
(N = # of sides and S = length from center to a corner)
Area of a regular polygon = (1/2) N sin(360°/N) S2(N = # of sides and S = length from center to a corner)
Sum of the interior angles of a polygon = (N - 2) x 180°
The number of diagonals in a polygon = 1/2 N(N-3)
The number of triangles (when you draw all the diagonals from one vertex) in a polygon = (N - 2)
The number of triangles (when you draw all the diagonals from one vertex) in a polygon = (N - 2)
Polygon Parts
Special PolygonsSpecial Quadrilaterals - square, rhombus, parallelogram, rectangle, and the trapezoid.
Special Triangles - right, equilateral, isosceles, scalene, acute, obtuse.
Sides
| Name |
n
| N-gon |
3
| Triangle |
4
| Quadrilateral |
5
| Pentagon |
6
| Hexagon |
7
| Heptagon |
8
| Octagon |
10
| Decagon |
12
| Dodecagon |
Names for other polygons have been proposed.
Sides
| Name |
9
| Nonagon, Enneagon |
11
| Undecagon, Hendecagon |
13
| Tridecagon, Triskaidecagon |
14
| Tetradecagon, Tetrakaidecagon |
15
| Pentadecagon, Pentakaidecagon |
16
| Hexadecagon, Hexakaidecagon |
17
| Heptadecagon, Heptakaidecagon |
18
| Octadecagon, Octakaidecagon |
19
| Enneadecagon, Enneakaidecagon |
20
| Icosagon |
30
| Triacontagon |
40
| Tetracontagon |
50
| Pentacontagon |
60
| Hexacontagon |
70
| Heptacontagon |
80
| Octacontagon |
90
| Enneacontagon |
100
| Hectogon, Hecatontagon |
1,000
| Chiliagon |
10,000
| Myriagon |
To construct a name, combine the prefix+suffix
|
+
|
|
Examples:
46 sided polygon - Tetracontakaihexagon
46 sided polygon - Tetracontakaihexagon
28 sided polygon - Icosikaioctagon
However, many people use the form n-gon, as in 46-gon, or 28-gon instead of these names.