Name __________________________________ Explaining Congruence

Shapes that are congruent are exactly the same size and shape but may be flipped or rotated.
This means they have corresponding same length sides and corresponding same size angles,
so they can exactly fit over each other. if you aren’t sure, you could always use tracing paper.
Questions about congruence usually appear in other questions about shapes.

1. Here are 8 shapes.

A B C
D

F G
H
E

Write down the letters of two different pairs of congruent shapes.

………. and ………

………. and ………

(Total 2 marks)

2 The diagram shows a regular hexagon drawn inside a circle with diameter AD.

C D

B E

N o t to sc a le

A F

Name a triangle which is congruent to triangle ACD.

Answer ...........................................
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3 These triangles are congruent.
5 cm
30º
70º
y N o t d ra w n
9 .5 c m to s c a le
10 cm
30º x

What is the size of

(a) x?

…..…………………………………………………………………………………
(1)

(b) y?

…..…………………………………………………………………………………
(1)

4. Triangle ABC is scalene.

Triangles BCD and ACE are equilateral.

A E

n o t d ra w n a c c u ra te ly

B C

Prove that triangles ADC and EBC are congruent.

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Name ______________________________________ Questions Congruent Shapes
Grade D questions
1. Seven shapes are drawn on the grid. Which of these shapes are congruent?

A B

C D

Answer.......................................................and........................................................

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2.

A
E

D
B

(a) Two of the triangles are congruent.

Write down the letters of these two triangles .………… and …………
(1)
(b) Write down the letter of an isosceles triangle.
……………..
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3. Here are 9 shapes.

A B C

E F
D

G I
H

(a) Write down the letter of the shape that is

(i) a pentagon,

……………………………

(ii) an isosceles triangle.

……………………………
(2)

(b) Write down the letters of the pair of congruent shapes.

…………… and ……………

(1)
(Total 3 marks)

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4. Here are 7 quadrilaterals.

B C

G
F

(a) Write down the letter of a parallelogram.

………………
(1)

Two of the quadrilaterals are congruent.

(b) Write down the letters of these quadrilaterals.

…………… and …………

(1)
(Total 2 marks)

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 Grade C questions:
5.

A B

Explain why triangle ABC is not congruent with triangle DEF.

.……………………………………………………………………………………………..

.……………………………………………………………………………………………..
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6. A teacher sketches five triangles. ( hint: Calculate all the missing angles first)

N o t d ra w n
8 cm to s c a le
A C
47º 63º 47º 78º
8 cm

8 cm

8 cm 47º
47º D E
63º

B 47º 70º

70º
8 cm

Which of these two triangles are congruent? Give reasons for your answer

………………………………...…..……………………………………………………….
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 ………………………………...…..……………………………………………………….

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Grade B Question

7. In the diagram, the lines AC and BD intersect at E.

AB and DC are parallel and AB = DC.

A B

D C

Prove that triangles ABE and CDE are congruent.

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 ANSWERS Congruent Shapes

1) A & F, D & G are congruent

2) a) A & D are congruent

b) B is an isosceles triangle (two sides equal)

3) a) i) D is a pentagon
ii) C is an isosceles triangle

b) B & G are congruent

4) a) F is a parallelogram

b) B & D are congruent

To get marks for grade C & above questions you must:

- mention actual lengths or angles
- identify corresponding sides
- show you know what congruent means

Just writing ‘ they have same length sides and angles’ won’t get you any marks

5) Whereas sides BC and EF are the same length, AB is 3.3 cm but the corresponding side
DE is 4 cm, also AC is 6.1 cm and corresponds to DF which is 6.5 cm so are of different
lengths. ( 1 mark)
Therefore ABC and DEF cannot be congruent as congruent triangles have corresponding sides
the same length (1 mark)

6) Having calculated & written in the missing angles:

- you can eliminate triangle C because it doesn’t have same angles as the others
- Triangles A B D E have same sized angles so now you look for which 2 have the 8 cm side in
the corresponding place which is Triangle A & E.
Answer should read:

Triangles A & E are congruent because their corresponding angles are the same size (1 mark)
& both have a corresponding side of length 8 cm between the angle of 47º & angle of 63º (1 mark)

7) Angle AEB = Angle CED (opposite angles equal) (1 mark)

Angle ECD = Angle EAB & Angle EDC = Angle EBA (alternate angles equal) (1 mark)
Therefore all corresponding angles in triangle ABE & CDE are the same,
so the two triangles are either similar or congruent (1 mark)
As sides AB = CD are equal the triangles must be congruent as corresponding sides are the
same length (1 mark)

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