1 Shapes

1.1 Polygons

A polygon is simply a general term for a shape with straight sides.

Activity 1: Identifying polygons

Which of the following shapes are polygons?

Figure 1 Six shapes

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Six illustrations of sides, labelled (a) to (f). Shapes (a), (c), (d) and (e) have straight sides; shapes (b) and (f) have curved sides.

Figure 1 Six shapes

Answer

Shapes (a), (c), (d) and (e) are polygons. Shapes (b) and (f) are not polygons because they have curved sides.

A regular polygon is a shape with sides that are the same length and angles that are all the same size.

A polygon with six sides is a hexagon. The shapes in Figure 2 are both hexagons, but only one is a regular hexagon.

Figure 2 Two hexagons

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An illustration of two hexagons. One is a regular polygon because its sides are the same length and its angles are all the same size.

Figure 2 Two hexagons