- 9 key characteristics about rectangles
- 1- Number of sides and dimension
- 2- Polygon
- 3- They are not equilateral polygons
- 4- Equiangular polygon
- 5- The area of a rectangle
- 6- Rectangles are parallelograms
- 7- The opposite angles are congruent and the consecutive ones are complementary
- 8- It is formed by two right triangles
- 9- The diagonals intersect at their midpoint
- References
The rectangle is characterized by being a flat geometric figure that has four sides and four vertices. Of these four sides, one pair has the same measurement while the other pair has a measurement that differs from the first pair.
This figure is a polygon of the parallelogram type, since the opposite sides of a rectangle are parallel and have the same measurements. The angles that make up the rectangles have an amplitude of 90 °, so they are right angles. That's where the name rectangle comes from.
The fact that the rectangles have four angles of the same amplitude causes these geometric figures to be called equiangles.
When a rectangle is crossed by a diagonal line, two triangles are created. If you cross a rectangle with two diagonal lines, they will cross in the center of the figure.
9 key characteristics about rectangles
1- Number of sides and dimension
Rectangles are made up of four sides. We can divide these sides into two pairs: one pair of sides measures the same, while the other pair has measurements higher or lower than the previous pair.
Opposing sides have the same measurements, while consecutive sides have different measurements.
In addition to this, the rectangles are two-dimensional figures, which means that they only have two dimensions: width and height.
2- Polygon
The rectangles are a polygon. In this sense, the rectangles are geometric figures, which are bounded by a closed polygonal line (that is, by a straight line segment that closes in on itself).
To be more specific, rectangles are quadrilateral polygons, because they have four sides.
3- They are not equilateral polygons
A polygon is equilateral when all of its sides measure the same. The sides of a rectangle do not have the same measurements. For this reason, it cannot be said that the rectangles are equilateral.
4- Equiangular polygon
Equiangular polygons are those in which they are made up of angles that have the same amplitude.
All rectangles are made up of four right angles (that is, 90 ° angles). A 10 cm x 20 cm rectangle will have four 90 ° angles, the same will happen with a rectangle of greater or lesser measure.
5- The area of a rectangle
The area of a rectangle is equal to the product of the base times the height, the base being the horizontal side while the height is the vertical side. A simpler way to look at it is to multiply the measurements of two contiguous sides.
The formula to calculate the area of this geometric figure is:
a = bx A
Some examples of calculating the area of a rectangle are:
- Rectangle with a base of 5 cm and a height of 2 cm. 5cm x 2cm = 10cm 2
- Rectangle with a base of 2 m and a height of 0.5 m. 2 mx 0.5 m = 2 m 2
- Rectangle with a base of 18 m and a height of 15 m. 18 mx 15 m = 270 m 2
6- Rectangles are parallelograms
Quadrilaterals can be classified into three types: trapezoids, trapezoids, and parallelograms. The latter are characterized by having two pairs of parallel sides, which do not necessarily have to have the same measurements.
In this sense, the rectangles are parallelograms, since two pairs of sides face each other.
7- The opposite angles are congruent and the consecutive ones are complementary
The opposite angles are those that are in the non-consecutive vertices of the figure. While the consecutive angles are those that are adjacent, one next to the other.
Two angles are congruent when they have the same amplitude. For their part, two angles are complementary when the sum of their amplitudes produces an angle of 180 °, or what is the same, a straight angle.
All the angles of a rectangle measure 90 °, so it can be said that the opposite angles of this geometric figure are congruent.
With respect to consecutive angles, the rectangle is made up of 90 ° angles. If the consecutive ones are added, the result will be 180 °. So, it's about complementary angles.
8- It is formed by two right triangles
If a diagonal is drawn in the rectangle (a line that goes from one angle of the rectangle to another that is opposite), we obtain two right triangles. This type of triangle is one that is formed by a right angle and two acute angles.
9- The diagonals intersect at their midpoint
As already explained, the diagonals are the lines that go from one of the angles to another opposite angle. If two diagonals are drawn in the rectangle, they will intersect at the midpoint of the figure.
References
- Rectangle. Retrieved on July 24, 2017, from mathisfun.com.
- Rectangle. Retrieved on July 24, 2017, from merriam-webster.com.
- Properties of Rhombuses, Rectangels and Squares. Retrieved on July 24, 2017, from dummies.com.
- Rectangle. Retrieved on July 24, 2017, from en.wikipedia.org.
- Rectangle. Retrieved on July 24, 2017, from collinsdictionary.com.
- Basic geometric shapes. Retrieved on July 24, 2017, from universalclass.com.
- Quadrilaterals. Retrieved on July 24, 2017, from mathisfun.coma.