You are on page 1of 18

POLYGON SONG

Refresh your polygon memories:


REFERENCE TABLE OF GEOMETRIC FIGURES
REGULAR POLYGONS
I. Exercises on Polygons:
Be careful of problems that give "extra"
information. In this problem, the 24 is
NOT needed to compute the area.
When working with
parallelogram problems, be sure
that the height you are using is
in fact perpendicular (makes a
right angle) to the base (side)
you are using. In this problem,
8 is the base and 9 is the
height. The side of 10 is not
used in this area.
It may be necessary, when working
with an obtuse triangle, to look
outside the triangle to find the
height. Notice how the height is
drawn to an extension of the base of
the triangle.
When working with circles, be sure that
you are using the radius. In this diagram,
10 is the diameter. The radius is half of
the diameter.
When working with a trapezoid,
the height may be measured
anywhere between the two
bases. Also, beware of "extra"
information. The 35 and 28 are
not needed to compute this area.
Some problems may require that you
find an additional piece of
information BEFORE finding the
area. This problem expects you to use
the Pythagorean Theorem to find the
base of the rectangle BEFORE finding
the area
Like perimeter, the circumference is the distance
round the outside of the figure. Unlike perimeter, in
a circle there are no straight segments to measure, so
a special formula is needed.
Use when you know the radius.
Use when you know the diameter.
Ed and Carol are jogging around a circular track
in the park. The diameter of the track is 0.8
miles. Find, to the nearest mile, the number of
miles they jogged if they made two complete trips
around the track.
Example 1:
(3.14)(0.8)
5.026548246 = 5 miles
For an art project at school, you need a piece of
string long enough to wrap around the outer
edge of this starfish. What is the shortest possible
length for the string?
Perimeter = 2 + 1.5 + 1 + 2 + 1.5 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 2.5 + 2
= 19.5 inches
Sectors and Segments of Circles
Area (circle)
Example#2
Area of sectors of circle
(Sectors are similar to "pizza pie slices" of a circle.)
Notice that when finding the area of a sector, you are actually finding a
fractional part of the area of the entire circle. The fraction is determined
by the ratio of the central angle of the sector to the "entire central angle"
of 360 degrees, or by the ratio of the arc length to the entire
circumference. The second formula can be algebraically reduced, but it
is easier to remember that you are dealing with fractional parts.
EXAMPLE#1
Find the area of a sector with a central angle of 60 degrees and
a radius of 10. Express answer to the nearest tenth.
Solution:
EXAMPLE#2
Find the area of a sector with an arc length of
40 cm and a radius of 12 cm.
Solution:
Area of polygons on a coordinate axis
Sides are parallel to the axes:
COUNT
to find the needed lengths.
In this example, the base of the triangle
lies on the grid of the graph paper, and
the altitude also lies on the grid of the
graph paper.
To COUNT: stand at A and take one
step to the right to the next grid
line. Continue stepping and counting
until you reach C.
From counting, we know the base is 6
and the altitude is 3.
The area of a triangle
formula:
You could also find the length
from A to C by subtracting the x-
coordinates of the two points. 4-
(-2) = 6
For the altitude, you need to
determine that the base of the
altitude is (2,1). Then subtract the y-
coordinates of the two points.
4 - 1 = 3.
Sides are NOT parallel to the axes.
"Box" Method
to find area.
In this example, the sides of the
triangle do NOT lie on the grid of
the graph paper. You should:
1. Draw the smallest "box" possible
which will enclose the polygon (in this
case a triangle). Be sure the "box"
follows the grids of the graph paper.
2. Number each of the parts of the box
with a Roman numeral (ignore the
coordinate axes when numbering).
3. "The whole is equal to the sum of its
parts." The area of each of the parts
added together equals the area of
the box.
** Find the area of the "box"
by counting.
** Represent the triangle you
wish to find by x.
** Find the area of each of the
right triangles by
counting and using the formula
for the area of a triangle.


It's easy, but it's tiring!
END OF MY REPORT
Reported by: Ronald A. Sato

You might also like