Book 2A Chapter 5

(page 5.30 - 5.35)

Sum of Interior Angles of a Polygon

Sum of Interior Angles of a Polygon
Consider quadrilateral ABCD as shown below.
A A
B B

C D C D
When we divide quadrilateral ABCD along diagonal AC,
two triangles, △ABC and △ACD are formed.
Hence, we have:
Sum of the interior angles of quadrilateral ABCD
= sum of the interior angles of two triangles
= 2 180 Angle sum of a triangle = 180
= 360
Using a similar approach, we can
find the sum of the interior angles of
other polygons.
For examples,
A
2
B
No. of sides = 4
No. of triangle formed = 2
C D
Sum of interior angles = 2180 = 360
Quadrilateral
A
2
No. of sides = 5
B
E No. of triangle formed = 3
C D
Sum of interior angles = 3180 = 540
Pentagon

A 2
F No. of sides = 6
B No. of triangle formed = 4
E
Sum of interior angles = 4180 = 720
C D
Hexagon
 From the above examples, let
us deduce the following for an
n-sided polygon.

For an n-sided polygon:

No. of sides = n 2

No. of triangles formed = n  2

Sum of interior angles = (n  2) 180

In fact,

The sum of all the interior angles of an n-sided polygon is

(n  2)  180 .
[Abbreviation: ∠ sum of polygon]

Note: The above result is applicable to both convex and

concave polygons.

For example,
sum of all the interior angles of a 12-sided polygon
= (12  2)  180 (∠ sum of n = 12
polygon)
= 1800
Follow-up question
1. Find x in the figure. A

Solution 93
B
93 + 121 + 82 + 138 + x = (5  2)  180 121 x E
(∠ sum of polygon) 138
82
434 + x = 540 D
C
x = 106
Follow-up question
2. For a regular octagon, find
(a) the sum of all the interior angles,
(b) the size of each interior angle.

Solution
(a) Sum of all the interior angles = (8  2)  180
(∠ sum of polygon)
= 1080

1080
(b) Size of each interior angle = A regular polygon is a
8 polygon with all sides
= 135 and all interior angles
equal.