Pentagon

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Ingeometry,apentagon(fromtheGreekpenteandgonia,meaningfiveandangle[1])is
anyfivesidedpolygonor5gon.Thesumoftheinternalanglesinasimplepentagonis540.

Regularpentagon

Apentagonmaybesimpleorselfintersecting.Aselfintersectingregularpentagon(orstar
pentagon)iscalledapentagram.

Contents
1 Regularpentagons
1.1 Derivationoftheareaformula
1.2 Inradius
1.3 Chordsfromthecircumscribedcircletothevertices
1.4 Constructionofaregularpentagon

Aregularpentagon
Type

Regularpolygon

Edgesand
vertices

Schlflisymbol

{5}

1.4.1 Richmond'smethod

Coxeterdiagram

1.4.2 Carlylecircles

Symmetrygroup Dihedral(D5),order25

1.4.3 UsingtrigonometryandthePythagoreanTheorem

Internalangle
(degrees)

108

Dualpolygon

self

Properties

convex,cyclic,equilateral,
isogonal,isotoxal

1.4.3.1 Theconstruction
1.4.4 Proofthatcos36=
1.4.5 Anothermethod
1.4.6 Sidelengthisgiven
1.4.6.1 Thegoldenratio
1.5 Euclid'smethod
1.5.1 Simplyusingaprotractor(notaclassicalconstruction)
1.6 Physicalmethods
1.7 Symmetry
2 Equilateralpentagons
3 Cyclicpentagons
4 Generalconvexpentagons
5 Graphs
6 Examplesofpentagons
6.1 Plants
6.2 Animals
6.3 Artificial
7 Pentagonsintiling
8 Pentagonsinpolyhedra
9 Seealso
10 Inlinenotesandreferences
11 Externallinks

Regularpentagons

AregularpentagonhasSchlflisymbol{5}andinterioranglesare108.
Aregularpentagonhasfivelinesofreflectionalsymmetry,androtationalsymmetryoforder5(through72,144,216and288).Thediagonalsofa
convexregularpentagonareinthegoldenratiotoitssides.Itsheight(distancefromonesidetotheoppositevertex)andwidth(distancebetweentwo
farthestseparatedpoints,whichequalsthediagonallength)aregivenby

whereRistheradiusofthecircumcircle.
Theareaofaconvexregularconvexpentagonwithsidelengthtisgivenby

Apentagramorpentangleisaregularstarpentagon.ItsSchlflisymbolis{5/2}.Itssidesformthediagonalsofaregularconvexpentagoninthis
arrangementthesidesofthetwopentagonsareinthegoldenratio.
WhenaregularpentagonisinscribedinacirclewithradiusR,itsedgelengthtisgivenbytheexpression

anditsareais

sincetheareaofthecircumscribedcircleis

theregularpentagonfillsapproximately0.7568ofitscircumscribedcircle.

Derivationoftheareaformula
Theareaofanyregularpolygonis:

wherePistheperimeterofthepolygon,andristheinradius(equivalentlytheapothem).Substitutingtheregularpentagon'svaluesforPandrgivesthe
formula

withsidelengtht.

Inradius
Likeeveryregularconvexpolygon,theregularconvexpentagonhasaninscribedcircle.Theapothem,whichistheradiusroftheinscribedcircle,ofa
regularpentagonisrelatedtothesidelengthtby

Chordsfromthecircumscribedcircletothevertices
Likeeveryregularconvexpolygon,theregularconvexpentagonhasacircumscribedcircle.ForaregularpentagonwithsuccessiveverticesA,B,C,D,
E,ifPisanypointonthecircumcirclebetweenpointsBandC,thenPA+PD=PB+PC+PE.

Constructionofaregularpentagon
Theregularpentagonisconstructiblewithcompassandstraightedge,as5isaFermatprime.Avarietyofmethodsareknownforconstructingaregular
pentagon.Somearediscussedbelow.
Richmond'smethod
OnemethodtoconstructaregularpentagoninagivencircleisdescribedbyRichmond[2]andfurtherdiscussedinCromwell's"Polyhedra."[3]

ThetoppanelshowstheconstructionusedinRichmond'smethodtocreatethesideoftheinscribedpentagon.Thecircle
definingthepentagonhasunitradius.ItscenterislocatedatpointCandamidpointMismarkedhalfwayalongitsradius.
ThispointisjoinedtotheperipheryverticallyabovethecenteratpointD.AngleCMDisbisected,andthebisector
intersectstheverticalaxisatpointQ.AhorizontallinethroughQintersectsthecircleatpointP,andchordPDisthe
requiredsideoftheinscribedpentagon.
Todeterminethelengthofthisside,thetworighttrianglesDCMandQCMaredepictedbelowthecircle.Using
Pythagoras'theoremandtwosides,thehypotenuseofthelargertriangleisfoundas
.Sidehofthesmallertriangle
thenisfoundusingthehalfangleformula:

wherecosineandsineofareknownfromthelargertriangle.Theresultis:

Withthissideknown,attentionturnstothelowerdiagramtofindthesidesoftheregularpentagon.First,sideaofthe
righthandtriangleisfoundusingPythagoras'theoremagain:

ThensisfoundusingPythagoras'theoremandthelefthandtriangleas:

Thesidesistherefore:

awellestablishedresult.[4]Consequently,thisconstructionofthepentagonisvalid.
Carlylecircles
Seemainarticle:Carlylecircle
TheCarlylecirclewasinventedasageometricmethodtofindtherootsofaquadraticequation.[5]This
methodologyleadstoaprocedureforconstructingaregularpentagon.Thestepsareasfollows:[6]
1. DrawacircleinwhichtoinscribethepentagonandmarkthecenterpointO.
2. Drawahorizontallinethroughthecenterofthecircle.MarkoneintersectionwiththecircleaspointB.
3. Constructaverticallinethroughthecenter.MarkoneintersectionwiththecircleaspointA.
4. ConstructthepointMasthemidpointofOandB.
5. DrawacirclecenteredatMthroughthepointA.Markitsintersectionwiththehorizontalline(insidethe
originalcircle)asthepointWanditsintersectionoutsidethecircleasthepointV.
6. DrawacircleofradiusOAandcenterW.Itintersectstheoriginalcircleattwooftheverticesofthe
pentagon.
7. DrawacircleofradiusOAandcenterV.Itintersectstheoriginalcircleattwooftheverticesofthe
pentagon.
8. Thefifthvertexistherightmostintersectionofthehorizontallinewiththeoriginalcircle.

MethodusingCarlylecircles

Steps68areequivalenttothefollowingversion,shownintheanimation:
6a.ConstructpointFasthemidpointofOandW.
7a.ConstructaverticallinethroughF.Itintersectstheoriginalcircleattwooftheverticesofthepentagon.Thethirdvertexistherightmost
intersectionofthehorizontallinewiththeoriginalcircle.
8a.Constructtheothertwoverticesusingthecompassandthelengthofthevertexfoundinstep7a.
UsingtrigonometryandthePythagoreanTheorem
Theconstruction

1. Wefirstnotethataregularpentagoncanbedividedinto10congruenttrianglesasshownintheObservation.Also,cos36=
.
2. InStep1,weusefourunits(showninblue)andarightangletoconstructasegmentoflength1+5,specificallybycreatinga125right
triangleandthenextendingthehypotenuseof5byalengthof1.Wethen

triangleandthenextendingthehypotenuseof5byalengthof1.Wethen
bisectthatsegmentandthenbisectagaintocreateasegmentoflength
(showninred.)
3. InStep2,weconstructtwoconcentriccirclescenteredatOwithradiiof
length1andlength
.WethenplaceParbitrarilyonthesmallercircle,as
shown.ConstructingalineperpendiculartoOPpassingthroughP,we
constructthefirstsideofthepentagonbyusingthepointscreatedatthe
intersectionofthetangentandtheunitcircle.Copyingthatlengthfourtimes
alongtheouteredgeoftheunitcirclesgivesusourregularpentagon.
Proofthatcos36=

(usingtheangleadditionformula
forcosine)
(usingdoubleandhalfangleformulas)
Letu=cos36.First,notethat0<u<1(whichwillhelpussimplifyaswe
work.)Now,

UsingtrigonometryandthePythagoreanTheoremtoconstructa
regularpentagon.

Thisfollowsquicklyfromtheknowledgethattwicethesineof18degreesisthereciprocalgoldenratio,whichweknowgeometricallyfromthetriangle
withanglesof72,72,36degrees.Fromtrigonometry,weknowthatthecosineoftwice18degreesis1minustwicethesquareofthesineof18degrees,
andthisreducestothedesiredresultwithsimplequadraticarithmetic.
Anothermethod
Anothermethodisthis:
1. DrawacircleinwhichtoinscribethepentagonandmarkthecenterpointO.(Thisisthegreencircleinthe
diagramtotheright).
2. ChooseapointAonthecirclethatwillserveasonevertexofthepentagon.DrawalinethroughOandA.
3. ConstructalineperpendiculartothelineOApassingthroughO.Markitsintersectionwithonesideofthe
circleasthepointB.
4. ConstructthepointCasthemidpointofthelineOB.
5. DrawacirclecenteredatCthroughthepointA.MarkitsintersectionwiththelineOB(insidetheoriginal
circle)asthepointD.
6. DrawacirclecenteredatAthroughthepointD.Markitsintersectionswiththeoriginal(green)circleas
thepointsEandF.
7. DrawacirclecenteredatEthroughthepointA.Markitsotherintersectionwiththeoriginalcircleasthe
pointG.
8. DrawacirclecenteredatFthroughthepointA.Markitsotherintersectionwiththeoriginalcircleasthe
pointH.
9. ConstructtheregularpentagonAEGHF.
Sidelengthisgiven

Animationofthismethod

Theregularpentagonaccordingtothegoldenratio,dividingalinesegmentbyexteriordivision
1. DrawasegmentABwhoselengthisthegivensideofthepentagon.
2. ExtendthesegmentBAfrompointAaboutthreequartersofthesegmentBA.
3. Drawanarcofacircle,centrepointB,withtheradiusAB.
4. Drawanarcofacircle,centrepointA,withtheradiusABtherearisestheintersectionF.
5. ConstructaperpendiculartothesegmentABthroughthepointFtherearisestheintersection
G.
6. DrawalineparalleltothesegmentFGfromthepointAtothecirculararcaboutpointAthere
arisestheintersectionH.
7. Drawanarcofacircle,centrepointGwiththeradiusGHtotheextensionofthesegmentAB
therearisestheintersectionJ.
8. Drawanarcofacircle,centrepointBwiththeradiusBJtotheperpendicularatpointGthere
arisestheintersectionDontheperpendicular,andtheintersectionEwiththecirculararcthat
wascreatedaboutthepointA.
9. Drawanarcofacircle,centrepointD,withtheradiusBAuntilthiscirculararccutstheother
circulararcaboutpointBtherearisestheintersectionC.
10. ConnectthepointsBCDEA.ThisresultsinthePentagon.

Pentagonatagivensidelength

Thegoldenratio

Euclid'smethod
Aregularpentagonisconstructibleusingacompassandstraightedge,eitherbyinscribingoneinagivencircleorconstructingoneonagivenedge.This
processwasdescribedbyEuclidinhisElementscirca300BC.[7]
Simplyusingaprotractor(notaclassicalconstruction)
Adirectmethodusingdegreesfollows:
1. Drawacircleandchooseapointtobethepentagon's(e.g.topcenter)
2. ChooseapointAonthecirclethatwillserveasonevertexofthepentagon.DrawalinethroughOandA.
3. Drawaguidelinethroughitandthecircle'scenter
4. Drawlinesat54(fromtheguideline)intersectingthepentagon'spoint
5. Wherethoseintersectthecircle,drawlinesat18(fromparallelstotheguideline)
6. Joinwheretheyintersectthecircle
Afterformingaregularconvexpentagon,ifonejoinsthenonadjacentcorners(drawingthediagonalsofthepentagon),oneobtainsapentagram,witha
smallerregularpentagoninthecenter.Orifoneextendsthesidesuntilthenonadjacentsidesmeet,oneobtainsalargerpentagram.Theaccuracyofthis
methoddependsontheaccuracyoftheprotractorusedtomeasuretheangles.

Physicalmethods
Aregularpentagonmaybecreatedfromjustastripofpaperbytyinganoverhandknotintothestripand
carefullyflatteningtheknotbypullingtheendsofthepaperstrip.Foldingoneoftheendsbackoverthe
pentagonwillrevealapentagramwhenbacklit.
Constructaregularhexagononstiffpaperorcard.Creasealongthethreediametersbetweenopposite
vertices.Cutfromonevertextothecentertomakeanequilateraltriangularflap.Fixthisflapunderneath
itsneighbortomakeapentagonalpyramid.Thebaseofthepyramidisaregularpentagon.

Overhandknotofapaperstrip

Symmetry
TheregularpentagonhasDih5symmetry,order10.Since5isaprimenumberthereisonesubgroupwithdihedralsymmetry:Dih1,and2cyclicgroup
symmetries:Z5,andZ1.
These4symmetriescanbeseenin4distinctsymmetriesonthepentagon.JohnConwaylabelsthesebyaletterandgrouporder.[8]Fullsymmetryofthe
regularformisr10andnosymmetryislabeleda1.Thedihedralsymmetriesaredivideddependingonwhethertheypassthroughvertices(dfor
diagonal)oredges(pforperpendiculars),andiwhenreflectionlinespaththroughbothedgesandvertices.Cyclicsymmetriesinthemiddlecolumnare
labeledasgfortheircentralgyrationorders.
Eachsubgroupsymmetryallowsoneormoredegreesoffreedomforirregularforms.Onlytheg5subgrouphasnodegreesoffreedombutcanseenas
directededges.

Equilateralpentagons
Seemainarticle:Equilateralpentagon

Anequilateralpentagonisapolygonwithfivesidesofequallength.However,itsfiveinternalanglescantakea
rangeofsetsofvalues,thuspermittingittoformafamilyofpentagons.Incontrast,theregularpentagonisunique,
becauseitisequilateralandmoreoveritisequiangular(itsfiveanglesareequal).
Theequilateralpentagonisverysimilartotheshapecommonlyusedasasymbolforahouse.Itisalsotheshapeof
thehomeplateinbaseball.

Cyclicpentagons
Acyclicpentagonisoneforwhichacirclecalledthecircumcirclegoesthroughallfivevertices.Theregular
pentagonisanexampleofacyclicpentagon.Theareaofacyclicpentagon,whetherregularornot,canbeexpressed
asonefourththesquarerootofoneoftherootsofasepticequationwhosecoefficientsarefunctionsofthesidesof
thepentagon.[9][10][11]
ThereexistcyclicpentagonswithrationalsidesandrationalareathesearecalledRobbinspentagons.InaRobbins
pentagon,eitheralldiagonalsarerationalorallareirrational,anditisconjecturedthatallthediagonalsmustbe
rational.[12]

Generalconvexpentagons

Symmetriesofaregularpentagon.
Verticesarecoloredbytheir
symmetrypositions.Bluemirror
linesaredrawnthroughvertices
andedges.Gyrationordersare
giveninthecenter.

Forallconvexpentagons,thesumofthesquaresofthediagonalsislessthan3timesthesumofthesquares
ofthesides.[13]:p.75,#1854

Graphs
TheK5completegraphisoftendrawnasaregularpentagonwithall10edgesconnected.Thisgraphalso
representsanorthographicprojectionofthe5verticesand10edgesofthe5cell.Therectified5cell,with
verticesatthemidedgesofthe5cellisprojectedinsideapentagon.

Equilateralpentagonbuiltwithfourequal
circlesdisposedinachain.

5cell(4D)

Rectified5cell(4D)

Examplesofpentagons
Plants

Pentagonalcross
sectionofokra.

Animals

Morningglories,like
manyotherflowers,
haveapentagonal
shape.

Thegynoeciumofan
applecontainsfive
carpels,arrangedina
fivepointedstar

Starfruitisanotherfruit
withfivefold
symmetry.

Aseastar.Many
echinodermshave
fivefoldradial
symmetry.

Anillustrationofbrittle
stars,alsoechinoderms
withapentagonal
shape.

Artificial

ThePentagon,
headquartersofthe
UnitedStates
Departmentof
Defense.

Homeplateofa
baseballfield

Pentagonsintiling
Aregularpentagoncannotappearinanytiling.First,toproveapentagoncannotformaregulartiling(onein
whichallfacesarecongruent,thusrequiringthatallthepolygonsbepentagons),observethat360/108=313
(where108Istheinteriorangle),whichisnotawholenumberhencethereexistsnointegernumberof
pentagonssharingasinglevertexandleavingnogapsbetweenthem.Moredifficultisprovingapentagoncannot
beinanyedgetoedgetilingmadebyregularpolygons:
Therearenocombinationsofregularpolygonswith4ormoremeetingatavertexthatcontainapentagon.For
combinationswith3,if3polygonsmeetatavertexandonehasanoddnumberofsides,theother2mustbe
congruent.Thereasonforthisisthatthepolygonsthattouchtheedgesofthepentagonmustalternatearoundthe
pentagon,whichisimpossiblebecauseofthepentagon'soddnumberofsides.Forthepentagon,thisresultsina
polygonwhoseanglesareall(360108)/2=126.Tofindthenumberofsidesthispolygonhas,theresultis
360/(180126)=623,whichisnotawholenumber.Therefore,apentagoncannotappearinanytilingmadeby
regularpolygons.
Thereare15classesofpentagonsthatcanmonohedrallytiletheplane.Noneofthepentagonshaveany
symmetryingeneral,althoughsomehavespecialcaseswithmirrorsymmetry.

Thebestknownpackingofequal
sizedregularpentagonsonaplaneis
adoublelatticestructurewhich
covers92.131%oftheplane.

15monohedralpentagonaltiles
3

10

11

12

13

14

15

Pentagonsinpolyhedra
Ih

Th

Td

D5d

Dodecahedron

Pyritohedron

Tetartoid

Pentagonal
icositetrahedron

Pentagonal
hexecontahedron

Truncated
trapezohedron

Seealso
AssociahedronApentagonisanorder4associahedron
Dodecahedron,apolyhedronwhoseregularformiscomposedof12pentagonalfaces
Goldenratio
Listofgeometricshapes
Pentagonalnumbers
Pentagram
Pentagrammap
Pentastar,theChryslerlogo
Pythagoras'theorem#Similarfiguresonthethreesides
Trigonometricconstantsforapentagon

Inlinenotesandreferences
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

"pentagon,adj.andn."OEDOnline.OxfordUniversityPress,June2014.Web.17August2014.
HerbertWRichmond(1893)."Pentagon".
PeterR.Cromwell.Polyhedra.p.63.ISBN0521664055.
ThisresultagreeswithHerbertEdwinHawkes,WilliamArthurLuby,FrankCharlesTouton(1920)."Exercise175".Planegeometry.Ginn&Co.p.302.
EricW.Weisstein(2003).CRCconciseencyclopediaofmathematics(2nded.).CRCPress.p.329.ISBN1584883472.
DuaneWDeTemple(1991)."CarlyleCirclesandtheLemoineSimplicityofPolygonConstructions"(PDF).TheAmericanMathematicalMonthly98(2):97108.
doi:10.2307/2323939.JSTORlink(http://www.jstor.org/stable/2323939)
GeorgeEdwardMartin(1998).Geometricconstructions.Springer.p.6.ISBN0387982760.
JohnH.Conway,HeidiBurgiel,ChaimGoodmanStrauss,(2008)TheSymmetriesofThings,ISBN9781568812205(Chapter20,GeneralizedSchaefli
symbols,Typesofsymmetryofapolygonpp.275278)
Weisstein,EricW."CyclicPentagon."FromMathWorldAWolframWebResource.[1](http://mathworld.wolfram.com/CyclicPentagon.html)
Robbins,D.P."AreasofPolygonsInscribedinaCircle."Discr.Comput.Geom.12,223236,1994.
Robbins,D.P."AreasofPolygonsInscribedinaCircle."Amer.Math.Monthly102,523530,1995.
*Buchholz,RalphH.MacDougall,JamesA.(2008),"Cyclicpolygonswithrationalsidesandarea",JournalofNumberTheory128(1):1748,
doi:10.1016/j.jnt.2007.05.005,MR2382768.
InequalitiesproposedinCruxMathematicorum,[2](http://www.imomath.com/othercomp/Journ/ineq.pdf).

Externallinks

Lookuppentagonin
Weisstein,EricW.,"Pentagon"(http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Pentagon.html),MathWorld.
Wiktionary,thefree
Animateddemonstration(http://www.mathopenref.com/constinpentagon.html)constructinganinscribed
dictionary.
pentagonwithcompassandstraightedge.
Howtoconstructaregularpentagon(http://www.opentutorial.com/Construct_a_pentagon)withonlya
compassandstraightedge.
Howtofoldaregularpentagon(http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/phi2DGeomTrig.html#knot)usingonlyastripofpaper
Definitionandpropertiesofthepentagon(http://www.mathopenref.com/pentagon.html),withinteractiveanimation
Renaissanceartists'approximateconstructionsofregularpentagons(http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/?
pa=content&sa=viewDocument&nodeId=1056&bodyId=1245)
Pentagon.(http://whistleralley.com/polyhedra/pentagon.htm)Howtocalculatevariousdimensionsofregularpentagons.

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