Lesson Title:

POLYGONS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• To define polygons
• To Identify open and closed figures, polygons and
non-polygons
• To Distinguish between regular and irregular
polygons.
 Polygons
A polygon is a shape made from only straight edges
Complete the task below
 Polygons
A polygon is a shape made from only straight edges

Polygons are named on the basis of how many sides they have

You need to learn the following names: Some of the names get silly…

Sides Polygon Name

5 sides 12 Dodecagon
4 sides
3 sides 13 Triskaidecagon
14 Tetrakaidecagon
Triangle Quadrilateral Pentagon 19 Enneadecagon
20 Icosagon
100000 Megagon
6 sides
8 sides 10100 Googolgon
7 sides

Luckily you don’t

have to learn these!
Hexagon Heptagon Octagon
 Regular and irregular polygons
A regular polygon is one with all To describe all other regular
sides the same and angles the same polygons, just put the word
‘regular’ in front of their name
Because you often use regular triangles and
quadrilaterals, they have special names:

Equilateral Square Regular Regular

Triangle pentagon hexagon

An irregular polygon has sides and angles that vary

Irregular heptagon Irregular octagon

 Regular and irregular polygons
1. Label each shape with its name :

Regular Irregular Irregular

Regular
heptagon pentagon hexagon
octagon

2. Explain why the following shapes are not regular polygons:

a) Rhombus b) Isosceles triangle c) Rectangle

Sides are equal

___________________ Only 2 sides and
___________________ ___________________
Angles are equal
but angles aren’t
___________________ angles equal
___________________ ___________________
but sides aren’t
 POLYGONS
Learning Objectives
• To Identify exterior angles of a polygon.
• To find the sum of the exterior angles in a regular polygon.
 Angles in Polygons
The angles inside the shape at each The angle between pairs of adjacent
corner are called interior angles sides are called exterior angles

Can you spot the connection

between interior and exterior angles?

They add up to 180o at any corner

Interior Exterior
angle + angle
= 180 o

In this section, we also look at rules for:

the sum of the exterior angles of any polygon
the sum of the interior angles of any polygon
the exterior angle of a regular polygon
the interior angle of a regular polygon
 Sum of exterior angles
What is the sum of the exterior angles of a polygon?

For a polygon with n sides:

the exterior angles sum to 360 o

 Proving that the sum of the interior
angles of a triangle sum to 180o
In year 7 you saw the following proof:

x y z

Alternate angles Alternate angles

x z
Therefore x + y + z = 180
WORKED EXAMPLE
WORKED EXAMPLE
 POLYGONS

• Learning Objectives
• To establish a formula to find the sum of interior angles.
• To find each exterior angle of a regular polygon
• To find the missing interior angle of a polygon
 The interior angles of polygons
Sum of interior angles can be split into triangles…

Triangle Quadrilateral Pentagon Hexagon

1 triangle 2 triangles 3 triangles 4 triangles

Can you spot the connection Sum of interior

Sides Triangles
between the number of sides and angles
the sum of the interior angles? 3 1 1180 = 180
4 2 2180 = 360
number −2 180 Sum of
of sides interior 5 3 3180 = 540
angles 6 4 4180 = 720

If a polygon has n sides… n n−2 (n − 2)180

 The sum of exterior and interior angles for any polygon
1. Work out the sum of the interior angles of an octagon
(8 − 2)180 = 1080
2. Work out the sum of the exterior angles of a heptagon
360
3. Work out the sum of the interior angles of a 12-sided polygon
(12 − 2)180 = 1800
4. Find the missing angles
130
a) 140 b)
90
x
160 70

70 80 110 a y

155
Pentagon  sum of interior angles = 540
Hexagon  sum of interior angles = 720
a = 540 − (110 + 90 + 130 + 70) =140
x = 720 − (70 + 160 + 140 + 80 + 155)=115
y = 180 − x = 40
Interior and exterior angles for regular polygons
For any polygon with n sides:
Eg regular octagon
Exterior angles sum to 360o

Interior angles sum to (n − 2)180

For a regular polygon:

o
360
Exterior angle =
n
o
(n − 2)  180
Interior angle =
n
Eg regular octagon
o
360
Exterior angle = = 45
8
180  6 1080
Interior angle = = =135
8 8
 Angles in regular polygons
For any polygon with n sides: For a regular polygon:
o
Interior Exterior 360
angle + angle
= 180 o
Exterior angle =
n
The exterior angles sum to 360o o
(n − 2)  180
The interior angles sum to (n − 2)180 Interior angle =
n

1. Use the rules to complete the following table:

Sum of Sum of For regular shape

Polygon Sides exterior interior Exterior Interior
angles angles angle angle
Pentagon 5 360 3 180 = 540 360  5 = 72 540  5 = 108
Hexagon 6 360 4 180 = 720 360  6 = 60 720  6 = 120
Nonagon 9 360 7 180 = 1260 360  9 = 40 1260  9 = 140
Decagon 10 360 8 180 = 1440 360 10 = 36 1440 10 = 144
Pendedecagon 15 360 13 180 = 2340 360 15 = 24 2340 15 = 156
 The interior angles of polygons
Sum of interior angles can be split into triangles…

Triangle Quadrilateral Pentagon Hexagon

1 triangle 2 triangles 3 triangles 4 triangles

Can you spot the connection Sum of interior

Sides Triangles
between the number of sides and angles
the sum of the interior angles? 3 1 1180 = 180
4 2 2180 = 360
number −2 180 Sum of
of sides interior 5 3 3180 = 540
angles 6 4 4180 = 720

If a polygon has n sides… n n−2 (n − 2)180

 The sum of exterior and interior angles for any polygon
1. Work out the sum of the interior angles of an octagon
(8 − 2)180 = 1080
2. Work out the sum of the exterior angles of a heptagon
360
3. Work out the sum of the interior angles of a 12-sided polygon
(12 − 2)180 = 1800
4. Find the missing angles
130
a) 140 b)
90
x
160 70

70 80 110 a y

155
Pentagon  sum of interior angles = 540
Hexagon  sum of interior angles = 720
a = 540 − (110 + 90 + 130 + 70) =140
x = 720 − (70 + 160 + 140 + 80 + 155)=115
y = 180 − x = 40
2. Dave says “There is a regular polygon with exterior angles of 50o”.
Explain why Dave is wrong

50 does not go into 360 / you can’t have a fraction of a side

3. John says “There is a regular polygon with interior angles of 170o”.

Explain why John is correct

Interior angle of 170o means exterior angle of 10o.

10 goes into 360 (ie a 36-sided shape)

4. A pupil has three tiles. One is a regular octagon, one is a regular hexagon, and
one is a square. The side length of each tile is the same.
The pupil says the hexagon will fit exactly like this.
Show calculations to prove that the pupil is wrong.
Not drawn accurately

Interior angle of square = 90 o

Interior angle of hexagon = 120 o
Interior angle of octagon = 135o
110 + 135 + 90 = 335o < 360o,
so will not meet exactly at a point,
 Problem solving with polygons
Eg Find the number of sides of a regular polygon with exterior angles of 20o
o
360 360 360
If exterior angle = then n = n= = 18
n exterior angle 20

Eg Find the number of sides of a regular polygon with interior angles of 156 o

If
Interior Exterior
angle + angle
= 180 o
then
Interior
180 − angle = Exterior
angle
and proceed
as before

360
Exterior angle = 180 − 156 = 24 n= = 12
24
Eg Find the number of sides of a polygon whose interior angles sum to 1620 o

number −2 180 Sum of

of sides interior n = 1620
180 + 2 = 11
+2 180 angles
 Problem solving with polygons
1. Find the number of sides of a regular polygon with:
a) exterior angles of 15o n = 360
15 = 24

360
b) interior angles of 135 o Exterior angle = 180 − 135 = 45 n= =8
45

c) an interior angle sum of 2700 o n − 2 = 2700

180 = 15  n = 17

2. Use the rules in reverse to complete the following table:

Sum of For regular shape

Name Sides interior Exterior Interior
angles angle angle
Dodecagon 12 1800 30 150
Icosagon 20 3240 18 162
Octagon 8 1080 45 135
 3. The diagram shows a regular octagon.
Find the size of angle x

180(8 − 2)
Interior angle of octagon = =135
8 x
Triangle is isosceles as 2 of its
sides are sides of the octagon
180 − 135
x= = 22.5
2

4. Find the size of the smallest angle is this irregular pentagon

x + 20
Sum of interior angles = 180 x 3 = 540o
2x But sum of angles = 8x − 20
so 8x − 20 = 540
2x − 60  8x = 560
x + 40
 x = 70
2x − 20
Smallest angle = 2x - 60 = 80o
 Regular and irregular polygons
1. Label each shape with its name :

2. Explain why the following shapes are not regular polygons:

a) Rhombus b) Isosceles triangle c) Rectangle

___________________ ___________________ ___________________

___________________ ___________________ ___________________
 The sum of exterior and interior angles for any polygon
1. Work out the sum of the interior angles of an octagon

2. Work out the sum of the exterior angles of a heptagon

3. Work out the sum of the interior angles of a 12-sided polygon

4. Find the missing angles

130
a) 140 b)
90
x
160 70

70 80 110 y

155
 Angles in regular polygons
For any polygon with n sides: For a regular polygon:
o
Interior Exterior 360
angle + angle
= 180 o
Exterior angle =
n
The exterior angles sum to 360o o
(n − 2)  180
The interior angles sum to (n − 2)180 Interior angle =
n

1. Use the rules to complete the following table:

Sum of Sum of For regular shape

Polygon Sides exterior interior Exterior Interior
angles angles angle angle
Pentagon
Hexagon
Nonagon
Decagon
Pendedecagon
2. Dave says “There is a regular polygon with exterior angles of 50o”.
Explain why Dave is wrong

3. John says “There is a regular polygon with interior angles of 170 o”.
Explain why John is correct

4. A pupil has three tiles. One is a regular octagon, one is a regular hexagon, and
one is a square. The side length of each tile is the same.
The pupil says the hexagon will fit exactly like this.
Show calculations to prove that the pupil is wrong.
Not drawn accurately
 Problem solving with polygons
1. Find the number of sides of a regular polygon with:
a) exterior angles of 15o

b) interior angles of 135 o

c) an interior angle sum of 2700 o

2. Use the rules in reverse to complete the following table:

Sum of For regular shape

Name Sides interior Exterior Interior
angles angle angle
30
162
1080
 3. The diagram shows a regular octagon.
Find the size of angle x

4. Find the size of the smallest angle is this irregular pentagon

x + 20
2x

2x − 60
x + 40
2x − 20