MathHandbook

ofFormulas,ProcessesandTricks
Geometry

Preparedby:EarlL.Whitney,FSA,MAAA
Version2.6
November25,2014

Copyright20102014,EarlWhitney,RenoNV.AllRightsReserved

GeometryHandbook
T bl fC
TableofContents

Page

Description

6
7
8
9
10
11

Chapter1:Basics
Points,Lines&Planes
Points Lines & Planes
Segments,Rays&Lines
DistanceBetweenPoints(1Dimensional,2Dimensional)
DistanceFormulainn Dimensions
Angles
TypesofAngles

12
13
14
15

Chapter2:Proofs
Chapter
2: Proofs
ConditionalStatements(Original,Converse,Inverse,Contrapositive)
BasicPropertiesofAlgebra(EqualityandCongruence,AdditionandMultiplication)
Inductivevs.DeductiveReasoning
AnApproachtoProofs

16
17
18
19

Chapter3:ParallelandPerpendicularLines
ParallelLinesandTransversals
MultipleSetsofParallelLines
ProvingLinesareParallel
ParallelandPerpendicularLinesintheCoordinatePlane

20
21
22
23
24

Chapter4:TrianglesBasic
TypesofTriangles(Scalene,Isosceles,Equilateral,Right)
yp
g (
,
, q
, g )
CongruentTriangles(SAS,SSS,ASA,AAS,CPCTC)
CentersofTriangles
LengthofHeight,MedianandAngleBisector
InequalitiesinTriangles

25
26
27

Chapter5:Polygons
Polygons Basic (Definitions Names of Common Polygons)
PolygonsBasic(Definitions,NamesofCommonPolygons)
PolygonsMoreDefinitions(Definitions,DiagonalsofaPolygon)
InteriorandExteriorAnglesofaPolygon

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GeometryHandbook
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TableofContents

Page

Description

28
29
30
31
32

Chapter6:Quadrilaterals
DefinitionsofQuadrilaterals
Definitions of Quadrilaterals
FiguresofQuadrilaterals
CharacteristicsofParallelograms
ParallelogramProofs(SufficientConditions)
KitesandTrapezoids

33
35
36
37
40
41

Chapter7:Transformations
I t d ti t T
IntroductiontoTransformation
f
ti
Reflection
Rotation
Rotationby90aboutaPoint(x0,y0)
Translation
Compositions

42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49

Chapter8:Similarity
RatiosInvolvingUnits
SimilarPolygons
ScaleFactorofSimilarPolygons
DilationsofPolygons
MoreonDilation
Similar Triangles (SSS SAS AA)
SimilarTriangles(SSS,SAS,AA)
ProportionTablesforSimilarTriangles
ThreeSimilarTriangles

50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57

Chapter9:RightTriangles
PythagoreanTheorem
PythagoreanTriples
S i l T i l (45 45 90 T i l 30 60 90 T i l )
SpecialTriangles(454590Triangle,306090Triangle)
TrigonometricFunctionsandSpecialAngles
TrigonometricFunctionValuesinQuadrantsII,III,andIV
GraphsofTrigonometricFunctions
Vectors
OperatingwithVectors

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GeometryHandbook
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TableofContents

Page

Description

58
59

Chapter10:Circles
PartsofaCircle
Parts of a Circle
AnglesandCircles

60
61
62
63
64
65

Chapter11:PerimeterandArea
PerimeterandAreaofaTriangle
MoreontheAreaofaTriangle
PerimeterandAreaofQuadrilaterals
P i t
PerimeterandAreaofGeneralPolygons
dA
fG
lP l
CircleLengthsandAreas
AreaofCompositeFigures

66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77

Chapter12:SurfaceAreaandVolume
Polyhedra
AHoleinEulersTheorem
PlatonicSolids
Prisms
Cylinders
SurfaceAreabyDecomposition
Pyramids
Cones
Spheres
p
SimilarSolids
SummaryofPerimeterandAreaFormulas2DShapes
SummaryofSurfaceAreaandVolumeFormulas3DShapes

78

Index

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GeometryHandbook
T bl fC
TableofContents

UsefulWebsites
WolframMathWorldPerhapsthepremiersiteformathematicsontheWeb.Thissitecontains
definitions,explanationsandexamplesforelementaryandadvancedmathtopics.
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/

MathLeagueSpecializesinmathcontests,books,andcomputersoftwareforstudentsfromthe4th
gradethroughhighschool.
http://www.mathleague.com/help/geometry/geometry.htm

CaliforniaStandardGeometryTestAstandardizedGeometrytestreleasedbythestateofCalifornia.
California
Standard Geometry Test A standardized Geometry test released by the state of California
Agoodwaytotestyourknowledge.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/documents/rtqgeom.pdf

SchaumsOutlines
Animportantstudentresourceforanyhighschoolmathstudentisa
SchaumsOutline.Eachbookinthisseriesprovidesexplanationsofthe
varioustopicsinthecourseandasubstantialnumberofproblemsforthe
studenttotry.Manyoftheproblemsareworkedoutinthebook,sothe
studentcanseeexamplesofhowtheyshouldbesolved.
SchaumsOutlinesareavailableatAmazon.com,Barnes&Noble,Bordersand
otherbooksellers.

Note: This study guide was prepared to be a companion to most books on the subject of High
School Geometry
Geometry. In particular
particular, I used Geometry
Geometry, by Ron Larson,
Larson Laurie Boswell,
Boswell and Lee Stiff to
determine which subjects to include in this guide. Although a significant effort was made to make
the material in this study guide original, some material from Geometry was used in the preparation
of the study guide.

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Geometry
Points,Lines&Planes

Item

Illustration

Notation

Point

Segment

Ray

Line

lor

Plane

mor

Definition
Alocationinspace.

Astraightpaththathastwoendpoints.

Astraightpaththathasoneendpoint
andextendsinfinitelyinonedirection.
Astraightpaththatextendsinfinitelyin
bothdirections.

Aflatsurfacethatextendsinfinitelyin
twodimensions.

Collinearpointsarepointsthatlieonthesameline.
Coplanarpointsarepointsthatlieonthesameplane.

Inthefigureatright:

, , , , and arepoints.

lisaline
mandnareplanes.

Inaddition,notethat:

, , and arecollinearpoints.

, and arecoplanarpoints.

, and arecoplanarpoints.

Ray

goesoffinasoutheastdirection.

Ray

goesoffinanorthwestdirection.

Together,rays

Linelintersectsbothplanesmandn.

landmintersectatpointE.

Note:Ingeometricfiguressuchastheoneabove,itis
importanttorememberthat,eventhoughplanesare
drawnwithedges,theyextendinfinitelyinthe2
dimensionsshown.

landnintersectatpointD.

Version 2.6

and

makeuplinel.

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Anintersectionofgeometric
shapesisthesetofpointsthey
shareincommon.

mandnintersectinline

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Geometry
Segments,Rays&Lines

SomeThoughtsAbout
LineSegments

Linesegmentsaregenerallynamedbytheirendpoints,sothe
segmentatrightcouldbenamedeither or .

Segment containsthetwoendpoints(AandB)andallpointsonline
betweenthem.

thatare

Rays

Raysaregenerallynamedbytheirsingleendpoint,
calledaninitialpoint,andanotherpointontheray.

Ray

containsitsinitialpointAandallpointsonline

inthedirectionofthearrow.

Rays

IfpointOisonline

and

thenrays

arenotthesameray.

and

andisbetweenpointsAandB,
arecalledoppositerays.They

haveonlypointOincommon,andtogethertheymakeupline

Lines

Linesaregenerallynamedbyeitherasinglescriptletter
(e.g.,l)orbytwopointsontheline(e.g.,.

).

Alineextendsinfinitelyinthedirectionsshownbyits
arrows.

Linesareparalleliftheyareinthesameplaneandthey
neverintersect.Linesfand g,atright,areparallel.

Linesareperpendiculariftheyintersectata90angle.A
pairofperpendicularlinesisalwaysinthesameplane.
Linesfand e,atright,areperpendicular.Linesgand e are
alsoperpendicular.

Linesareskewiftheyarenotinthesameplaneandthey
neverintersect.Lineskand l,atright,areskew.
(Rememberthisfigureis3dimensional.)

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Geometry
DistanceBetweenPoints

Distancemeasureshowfaraparttwothingsare.Thedistancebetweentwopointscanbe
measuredinanynumberofdimensions,andisdefinedasthelengthofthelineconnectingthe
twopoints.Distanceisalwaysapositivenumber.

1DimensionalDistance

Inonedimensionthedistancebetweentwopointsisdeterminedsimplybysubtractingthe
coordinatesofthepoints.

Example:Inthissegment,thedistancebetween2and5iscalculatedas:5
2
7.

2DimensionalDistance

Intwodimensions,thedistancebetweentwopointscanbecalculatedbyconsideringtheline
betweenthemtobethehypotenuseofarighttriangle.Todeterminethelengthofthisline:

Calculatethedifferenceinthexcoordinatesofthepoints
Calculatethedifferenceintheycoordinatesofthepoints
UsethePythagoreanTheorem.

Thisprocessisillustratedbelow,usingthevariabled fordistance.

Example:Findthedistancebetween(1,1)and(2,5).Basedonthe
illustrationtotheleft:
xcoordinatedifference:2
ycoordinatedifference:5

1
1

Then,thedistanceiscalculatedusingtheformula:

3.
4.
3

16

25

So,

Ifwedefinetwopointsgenerallyas(x1,y1)and(x2,y2),thena2dimensionaldistanceformula
wouldbe:

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ADVANCED

Geometry
DistanceFormulainnDimensions

Thedistancebetweentwopointscanbegeneralizedtondimensionsbysuccessiveuseofthe
PythagoreanTheoreminmultipledimensions.Tomovefromtwodimensionstothree
dimensions,westartwiththetwodimensionalformulaandapplythePythagoreanTheoremto
addthethirddimension.

3Dimensions

Considertwo3dimensionalpoints(x1,y1,z1)and(x2,y2,z2).Considerfirstthesituation
wherethetwozcoordinatesarethesame.Then,thedistancebetweenthepointsis2
.
dimensional,i.e.,

WethenaddathirddimensionusingthePythagoreanTheorem:

And,finallythe3dimensionaldifferenceformula:

nDimensions

Usingthesamemethodologyinndimensions,wegetthegeneralizedndimensional
differenceformula(wheretherearentermsbeneaththeradical,oneforeachdimension):

Or,inhigherlevelmathematicalnotation:
Thedistancebetween2pointsA=(a1,a2,,an)andB=(b1,b2,,bn)is

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Geometry
Angles

PartsofanAngle
Anangleconsistsoftworayswithacommon
endpoint(or,initialpoint).

Eachrayisasideoftheangle.

Thecommonendpointiscalledthevertexof
theangle.

NamingAngles
Anglescanbenamedinoneoftwoways:

Pointvertexpointmethod.Inthismethod,theangleisnamedfromapointonone
ray,thevertex,andapointontheotherray.Thisisthemostunambiguousmethodof
naminganangle,andisusefulindiagramswithmultipleanglessharingthesamevertex.
Intheabovefigure,theangleshowncouldbenamed
or
.

Vertexmethod.Incaseswhereitisnotambiguous,ananglecanbenamedbasedsolely
onitsvertex.Intheabovefigure,theanglecouldbenamed .

MeasureofanAngle
Therearetwoconventionsformeasuringthesizeofanangle:

Indegrees.Thesymbolfordegreesis.Thereare360inafullcircle.Theangleabove
measuresapproximately45(oneeighthofacircle).

Inradians.Thereare2 radiansinacompletecircle.Theangleabovemeasures
approximately

radians.

SomeTermsRelatingtoAngles
Angleinterioristheareabetweentherays.
Angleexterioristheareanotbetweentherays.
Adjacentanglesareanglesthatsharearayforaside.
inthefigureatrightareadjacentangles.

and

Congruentanglesareaangleswiththesamemeasure.
Anglebisectorisaraythatdividestheangleintotwocongruent
angles.Ray

Version 2.6

bisects

inthefigureatright.

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Geometry
TypesofAngles

SupplementaryAngles

ComplementaryAngles

AnglesAandBaresupplementary.

AnglesCandDarecomplementary.

AnglesAandBformalinearpair.

180

90

Angleswhichareoppositeeachotherwhen
twolinescrossareverticalangles.
AnglesEandGareverticalangles.
AnglesFandHareverticalangles.

F
E

Inaddition,eachangleissupplementaryto
thetwoanglesadjacenttoit.Forexample:

VerticalAngles

AngleEissupplementarytoAnglesFandH.

Anacuteangleisonethatislessthan90.In
theillustrationabove,anglesEandGare
acuteangles.

Arightangleisonethatisexactly90.

Anobtuseangleisonethatisgreaterthan
90.Intheillustrationabove,anglesFandH
areobtuseangles.
Astraightangleisonethatisexactly180.

Version 2.6

Acute

Obtuse

Right

Straight

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Geometry
ConditionalStatements
Aconditionalstatementcontainsbothahypothesisandaconclusioninthefollowingform:

Ifhypothesis,thenconclusion.

Foranyconditionalstatement,itispossibletocreatethreerelated
conditionalstatements,asshownbelow.Inthetable,pisthehypothesis
oftheoriginalstatementandqistheconclusionoftheoriginalstatement.

Statementslinked
belowbyredarrows
mustbeeitherboth
trueorbothfalse.

Example
Statementis:

TypeofConditionalStatement

OriginalStatement:

Ifq,thenp.(

Example:Ifanumberisdivisibleby3,thenitisdivisibleby6.
Theconversestatementmaybeeithertrueorfalse,andthisdoesnot
dependonwhethertheoriginalstatementistrueorfalse.

InverseStatement:

Ifnotp,thennotq.(~

~ )

Example:Ifanumberisnotdivisibleby6,thenitisnotdivisibleby3.
Theinversestatementisalwaystruewhentheconverseistrueand
falsewhentheconverseisfalse.

ContrapositiveStatement: Ifnotq,thennotp.(~

Example:Ifanumberisdivisibleby6,thenitisdivisibleby3.
Theoriginalstatementmaybeeithertrueorfalse.

ConverseStatement:

Ifp,thenq.(

~ )

Example:Ifanumberisnotdivisibleby3,thenitisnotdivisibleby6.
TheContrapositivestatementisalwaystruewhentheoriginal
statementistrueandfalsewhentheoriginalstatementisfalse.

TRUE

FALSE

FALSE

TRUE

Notealsothat:
Whentwostatementsmustbeeitherbothtrueorbothfalse,theyarecalledequivalent
statements.
o Theoriginalstatementandthecontrapositiveareequivalentstatements.
o Theconverseandtheinverseareequivalentstatements.
Ifboththeoriginalstatementandtheconversearetrue,thephraseifandonlyif
(abbreviatediff)maybeused.Forexample,Anumberisdivisibleby3iffthesumof
itsdigitsisdivisibleby3.
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Geometry
BasicPropertiesofAlgebra

PropertiesofEqualityandCongruence.

DefinitionforEquality

DefinitionforCongruence

Foranyrealnumbersa,b,andc:

Foranygeometricelementsa,bandc.
(e.g.,segment,angle,triangle)

Property

ReflexiveProperty
SymmetricProperty

TransitiveProperty
SubstitutionProperty

If
, then either can be
substituted for the other in any
equation (or inequality).

If
, then either can be
substituted for the other in any
congruence expression.

MorePropertiesofEquality.Foranyrealnumbersa,b,andc:

Property

DefinitionforEquality

AdditionProperty

SubtractionProperty

MultiplicationProperty

0,

DivisionProperty

PropertiesofAdditionandMultiplication.Foranyrealnumbersa,b,andc:

Property

DefinitionforAddition

CommutativeProperty

AssociativeProperty
DistributiveProperty

DefinitionforMultiplication

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Geometry
Inductivevs.DeductiveReasoning
InductiveReasoning
Inductivereasoningusesobservationtoformahypothesisorconjecture.Thehypothesiscan
thenbetestedtoseeifitistrue.Thetestmustbeperformedinordertoconfirmthe
hypothesis.
Example:Observethatthesumofthenumbers1to4is 4 5/2 andthatthesumofthe
numbers1to5is 5 6/2 .Hypothesis:thesumofthefirstnnumbersis
1 /2 .
Testingthishypothesisconfirmsthatitistrue.

DeductiveReasoning
Deductivereasoningarguesthatifsomethingistrueaboutabroadcategoryofthings,itistrue
ofaniteminthecategory.
Example:Allbirdshavebeaks.Apigeonisabird;therefore,ithasabeak.
Therearetwokeytypesofdeductivereasoningofwhichthestudentshouldbeaware:

,ifpistruethenqistrue.Inwords,ifone
thingimpliesanother,thenwheneverthefirstthingistrue,thesecondmustalsobe
true.

LawofDetachment.Giventhat

Example:Startwiththestatement:Ifalivingcreatureishuman,thenithasabrain.
Thenbecauseyouarehuman,wecanconcludethatyouhaveabrain.

Syllogism.Giventhat

and
,wecanconcludethat
.Thisisakindof
transitivepropertyoflogic.Inwords,ifonethingimpliesasecondandthatsecond
thingimpliesathird,thenthefirstthingimpliesthethird.
Example:Startwiththestatements:Ifmypencilbreaks,Iwillnotbeabletowrite,
andifIamnotabletowrite,Iwillnotpassmytest.ThenIcanconcludethatIfmy
pencilbreaks,Iwillnotpassmytest.

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Geometry
AnApproachtoProofs
Learningtodevelopasuccessfulproofisoneofthekeyskillsstudentsdevelopingeometry.
Theprocessisdifferentfromanythingstudentshaveencounteredinpreviousmathclasses,and
mayseemdifficultatfirst.Diligenceandpracticeinsolvingproofswillhelpstudentsdevelop
reasoningskillsthatwillservethemwellfortherestoftheirlives.

RequirementsinPerformingProofs

Eachproofstartswithasetofgivens,statementsthatyouaresuppliedandfrom
whichyoumustderiveaconclusion.Yourmissionistostartwiththegivensandto
proceedlogicallytotheconclusion,providingreasonsforeachstepalongtheway.

Eachstepinaproofbuildsonwhathasbeendevelopedbefore.Initially,youlookat
whatyoucanconcludefromthegivens.Thenasyouproceedthroughthestepsinthe
proof,youareabletouseadditionalthingsyouhaveconcludedbasedonearliersteps.

Eachstepinaproofmusthaveavalidreasonassociatedwithit.So,eachstatementin
theproofmustbefurnishedwithananswertothequestion:Whyisthisstepvalid?

TipsforSuccessfulProofDevelopment

Ateachstep,thinkaboutwhatyouknowandwhatyoucanconcludefromthat
information.Dothisinitiallywithoutregardtowhatyouarebeingaskedtoprove.Then
lookateachthingyoucanconcludeandseewhichonesmoveyouclosertowhatyou
aretryingtoprove.

Goasfarasyoucanintotheprooffromthebeginning.Ifyougetstuck,

Workbackwardsfromtheendoftheproof.Askyourselfwhatthelaststepintheproof
islikelytobe.Forexample,ifyouareaskedtoprovethattwotrianglesarecongruent,
trytoseewhichoftheseveraltheoremsaboutthisismostlikelytobeusefulbasedon
whatyouweregivenandwhatyouhavebeenabletoprovesofar.

Continueworkingbackwardsuntilyouseestepsthatcanbeaddedtothefrontendof
theproof.Youmayfindyourselfalternatingbetweenthefrontendandthebackend
untilyoufinallybridgethegapbetweenthetwosectionsoftheproof.

Dontskipanysteps.Somethingsappearobvious,butactuallyhaveamathematical
reasonforbeingtrue.Forexample,
mightseemobvious,butobviousisnota
isapropertyofalgebracalled
validreasoninageometryproof.Thereasonfor
thereflexivepropertyofequality.Usemathematicalreasonsforallyoursteps.

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Geometry
ParallelLinesandTransversals

Transversal

A
C

Consecutive:referstoanglesthatare
onthesamesideofthetransversal.

Alternate:referstoanglesthatareon
oppositesidesofthetransversal.

ParallelLines

Interior:referstoanglesthatare
betweentheparallellines.
Exterior:referstoanglesthatare
outsidetheparallellines.

CorrespondingAngles
CorrespondingAnglesareanglesinthesamelocationrelativetotheparallellinesandthe
transversal.Forexample,theanglesontopoftheparallellinesandleftofthetransversal(i.e.,
topleft)arecorrespondingangles.
AnglesAandE(topleft)areCorrespondingAngles.SoareanglepairsBandF(topright),C
andG(bottomleft),andDandH(bottomright).Correspondinganglesarecongruent.

AlternateInteriorAngles
AnglesDandEareAlternateInteriorAngles.AnglesCandFarealsoalternateinteriorangles.
Alternateinterioranglesarecongruent.

AlternateExteriorAngles
AnglesAandHareAlternateExteriorAngles.AnglesBandGarealsoalternateexterior
angles.Alternateexterioranglesarecongruent.

ConsecutiveInteriorAngles
AnglesCandEareConsecutiveInteriorAngles.AnglesDandFarealsoconsecutiveinterior
angles.Consecutiveinterioranglesaresupplementary.
NotethatanglesA,D,E,andHarecongruent,andanglesB,C,F,andGarecongruent.In
addition,eachoftheanglesinthefirstgrouparesupplementarytoeachoftheanglesinthe
secondgroup.

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Geometry
MultipleSetsofParallelLines
TwoTransversals
Sometimes,thestudentispresentedtwosetsofintersectingparallellines,asshownabove.
Notethateachpairofparallellinesisasetoftransversalstotheothersetofparallellines.

M
H

N
O

Inthiscase,thefollowinggroupsofanglesarecongruent:

Group1:AnglesA,D,E,H,I,L,MandPareallcongruent.

Group2:AnglesB,C,F,G,J,K,N,andOareallcongruent.

EachangleintheGroup1issupplementarytoeachangleinGroup2.

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Geometry
ProvingLinesareParallel
Thepropertiesofparallellinescutbyatransversalcanbeusedtoprovetwolinesareparallel.

CorrespondingAngles
Iftwolinescutbyatransversalhavecongruentcorrespondingangles,
thenthelinesareparallel.Notethatthereare4setsofcorresponding
angles.

AlternateInteriorAngles
Iftwolinescutbyatransversalhavecongruentalternateinteriorangles
congruent,thenthelinesareparallel.Notethatthereare2setsof
alternateinteriorangles.

AlternateExteriorAngles
Iftwolinescutbyatransversalhavecongruentalternateexterior
angles,thenthelinesareparallel.Notethatthereare2setsof
alternateexteriorangles.

ConsecutiveInteriorAngles
Iftwolinescutbyatransversalhavesupplementaryconsecutive
interiorangles,thenthelinesareparallel.Notethatthereare2setsof
consecutiveinteriorangles.

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Geometry
ParallelandPerpendicularLinesintheCoordinatePlane

ParallelLines
Twolinesareparalleliftheirslopesareequal.

In
thesame.

form,ifthevaluesof are

Example:

3
1

and

InStandardForm,ifthecoefficientsof and
areproportionalbetweentheequations.
Example:3
6

2
2

2
4

and
7

Also,ifthelinesarebothvertical(i.e.,their
slopesareundefined).
Example:
3 and

PerpendicularLines
Twolinesareperpendiculariftheproductoftheir
slopesis .Thatis,iftheslopeshavedifferent
signsandaremultiplicativeinverses.

In
form,thevaluesof
multiplytoget 1..
Example:

and
3

InStandardForm,ifyouaddtheproductof
thexcoefficientstotheproductofthey
coefficientsandgetzero.
Example:4

6
2

4 and
5because 4 3

Also,ifonelineisvertical(i.e., isundefined)andonelineishorizontal(i.e.,
Example:
6 and

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0).

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Geometry
TypesofTriangles

Scalene

AScaleneTrianglehas3sidesofdifferent
lengths.Becausethesidesareof
differentlengths,theanglesmustalsobe
ofdifferentmeasures.

Equilateral

AnEquilateralTrianglehasall3sidesthe
samelength(i.e.,congruent).Becauseall

Isosceles
AnIsoscelesTrianglehas2sidesthesame
length(i.e.,congruent).Becausetwo
sidesarecongruent,twoanglesmustalso
becongruent.

Right

3sidesarecongruent,all3anglesmust
alsobecongruent.Thisrequireseach
angletobe60.

60

ARightTriangle isonethatcontainsa90
angle.Itmaybescaleneorisosceles,but
cannotbeequilateral.Righttriangles
havesidesthatmeettherequirementsof
thePythagoreanTheorem.

60

60

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Geometry
CongruentTriangles

Thefollowingtheoremspresentconditionsunderwhichtrianglesarecongruent.

SideAngleSide(SAS)Congruence
SAScongruence requiresthecongruenceof

twosidesandtheanglebetweenthosesides.

NotethatthereisnosuchthingasSSA

congruence;thecongruentanglemustbe

betweenthetwocongruentsides.

SideSideSide(SSS)Congruence

SSScongruence requiresthecongruenceofall

threesides.Ifallofthesidesarecongruent

thenalloftheanglesmustbecongruent.The

converseisnottrue;thereisnosuchthingas

AAAcongruence.

AngleSideAngle(ASA)Congruence

ASAcongruence requiresthecongruenceof

twoanglesandthesidebetweenthoseangles.

Note:ASAandAAScombinetoprovide

congruenceoftwotriangleswhenever
anytwoanglesandanyonesideofthe
trianglesarecongruent.

AngleAngleSide(AAS)Congruence

AAScongruence requiresthecongruenceof

twoanglesandasidewhichisnotbetween

thoseangles.

CPCTC

CPCTCmeanscorrespondingpartsofcongruenttrianglesarecongruent.Itisavery
powerfultoolingeometryproofsandisoftenusedshortlyafterastepintheproofwhereapair
oftrianglesisprovedtobecongruent.

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Geometry
CentersofTriangles

Thefollowingareallpointswhichcanbeconsideredthecenterofatriangle.

Centroid(Medians)

Thecentroidistheintersectionofthethreemediansofatriangle.Amedianisa
linesegmentdrawnfromavertextothemidpointofthelineoppositethe
vertex.

Thecentroidislocated2/3ofthewayfromavertextotheoppositeside.Thatis,thedistancefroma
vertextothecentroidisdoublethelengthfromthecentroidtothemidpointoftheoppositeline.
Themediansofatrianglecreate6innertrianglesofequalarea.

Orthocenter(Altitudes)

Theorthocenteristheintersectionofthethreealtitudesofatriangle.An
altitudeisalinesegmentdrawnfromavertextoapointontheoppositeside
(extended,ifnecessary)thatisperpendiculartothatside.

Inanacutetriangle,theorthocenterisinsidethetriangle.
Inarighttriangle,theorthocenteristherightanglevertex.
Inanobtusetriangle,theorthocenterisoutsidethetriangle.

Circumcenter(PerpendicularBisectors)

Thecircumcenteristheintersectionofthe
perpendicularbisectorsofthethreesidesofthe
triangle.Aperpendicularbisectorisalinewhich
bothbisectsthesideandisperpendiculartothe
side.Thecircumcenterisalsothecenterofthe
circlecircumscribedaboutthetriangle.

Inanacutetriangle,thecircumcenterisinsidethetriangle.
Inarighttriangle,thecircumcenteristhemidpointofthehypotenuse.
Inanobtusetriangle,thecircumcenterisoutsidethetriangle.

EulerLine:Interestingly,
thecentroid,orthocenter
andcircumcenterofa
trianglearecollinear(i.e.,
lieonthesameline,
whichiscalledtheEuler
Line).

Incenter(AngleBisectors)
Theincenteristheintersectionoftheanglebisectorsofthethreeanglesof
thetriangle.Ananglebisectorcutsanangleintotwocongruentangles,each
ofwhichishalfthemeasureoftheoriginalangle.Theincenterisalsothe
centerofthecircleinscribedinthetriangle.

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Geometry
LengthofHeight,MedianandAngleBisector

Height
Theformulaforthelengthofaheightofatriangleisderived
fromHeronsformulafortheareaofatriangle:

where,

,and

, , arethelengthsofthesidesofthetriangle.

Median
Theformulaforthelengthofamedianofatriangleis:

where, , , arethelengthsofthesidesofthetriangle.

AngleBisector
Theformulaforthelengthofananglebisectorofatriangleis:

where, , , arethelengthsofthesidesofthetriangle.

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Geometry
InequalitiesinTriangles

Anglesandtheiroppositesidesintrianglesarerelated.Infact,thisisoftenreflectedinthe
labelingofanglesandsidesintriangleillustrations.

Anglesandtheiroppositesidesareoften
labeledwiththesameletter.Anuppercase
letterisusedfortheangleandalowercase
letterisusedfortheside.

Therelationshipbetweenanglesandtheiroppositesidestranslatesintothefollowingtriangle
inequalities:
If
, then

If

, then

Thatis,inanytriangle,
Thelargestsideisoppositethelargestangle.
Themediumsideisoppositethemediumangle.
Thesmallestsideisoppositethesmallestangle.

OtherInequalitiesinTriangles
TriangleInequality:Thesumofthelengthsofanytwosidesofatriangle
isgreaterthanthelengthofthethirdside.Thisisacrucialelementin
decidingwhethersegmentsofany3lengthscanformatriangle.

ExteriorAngleInequality:Themeasureofanexternalangleisgreaterthanthemeasureof
eitherofthetwononadjacentinteriorangles.Thatis,inthefigurebelow:

Note:theExteriorAngleInequalityismuchlessrelevantthantheExteriorAngleEquality.
ExteriorAngleEquality:Themeasureofanexternalangleisequaltothesumofthemeasures
ofthetwononadjacentinteriorangles.Thatis,inthefigurebelow:

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Geometry
PolygonsBasics

BasicDefinitions
Polygon:aclosedpathofthreeormorelinesegments,where:
notwosideswithacommonendpointarecollinear,and
eachsegmentisconnectedatitsendpointstoexactlytwoothersegments.
Side:asegmentthatisconnectedtoothersegments(whicharealsosides)toformapolygon.
Vertex:apointattheintersectionoftwosidesofthepolygon.(pluralform:vertices)
Diagonal:asegment,fromonevertextoanother,whichisnotaside.

Vertex

Diagonal

Side

Concave:Apolygoninwhichitispossibletodrawadiagonaloutsidethe
polygon.(Noticetheorangediagonaldrawnoutsidethepolygonat
right.)Concavepolygonsactuallylookliketheyhaveacaveinthem.

Convex:Apolygoninwhichitisnotpossibletodrawadiagonaloutsidethe
polygon.(Noticethatalloftheorangediagonalsareinsidethepolygon
atright.)Convexpolygonsappearmoreroundedanddonotcontain
caves.

NamesofSomeCommonPolygons
Number
ofSides

NameofPolygon

Number
ofSides

NameofPolygon

Triangle

Nonagon

Quadrilateral

10

Decagon

Pentagon

11

Undecagon

Hexagon

12

Dodecagon

Heptagon

20

Icosagon

Octagon

ngon

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Namesofpolygons
aregenerallyformed
fromtheGreek
language;however,
somehybridformsof
LatinandGreek(e.g.,
undecagon)have
creptintocommon
usage.

November 25, 2014

Geometry
PolygonsMoreDefinitions

Definitions

AdvancedDefinitions:

Equilateral:apolygoninwhichallofthesidesareequalinlength.
Equiangular:apolygoninwhichalloftheangleshavethesame
measure.
Regular:apolygonwhichisbothequilateralandequiangular.That
is,aregularpolygonisoneinwhichallofthesideshavethesame
lengthandalloftheangleshavethesamemeasure.

InteriorAngle:Anangleformedbytwosidesofapolygon.The
angleisinsidethepolygon.
ExteriorAngle:Anangleformedbyonesideofapolygonandthe
linecontaininganadjacentsideofthepolygon.Theangleisoutside
thepolygon.

Interior
Exterior

Angle
Angle

SimplePolygon:a
polygonwhosesidesdo
notintersectatany
locationotherthanits
endpoints.Simple
polygonsalwaysdividea
planeintotworegions
oneinsidethepolygonand
oneoutsidethepolygon.
ComplexPolygon:a
polygonwithsidesthat
intersectsomeplaceother
thantheirendpoints(i.e.,
notasimplepolygon).
Complexpolygonsdonot
alwayshavewelldefined
insidesandoutsides.
SkewPolygon:apolygon
forwhichnotallofits
verticeslieonthesame
plane.

HowManyDiagonalsDoesaConvexPolygonHave?
Believeitornot,thisisacommonquestionwithasimplesolution.Considerapolygonwithn
sidesand,therefore,nvertices.

Eachofthenverticesofthepolygoncanbeconnectedto
otherverticeswith
diagonals.Thatis,itcanbeconnectedtoallotherverticesexceptitselfandthetwoto
whichitisconnectedbysides.So,thereare
linestobedrawnasdiagonals.
However,whenwedothis,wedraweachdiagonaltwicebecausewedrawitoncefrom
eachofitstwoendpoints.So,thenumberofdiagonalsisactuallyhalfofthenumberwe
calculatedabove.
Therefore,thenumberofdiagonalsinannsidedpolygonis:

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Geometry
InteriorandExteriorAnglesofaPolygon

InteriorAngles

InteriorAngles

Thesumoftheinterioranglesinan sidedpolygonis:

Sides

Sumof
Interior
Angles

Each
Interior
Angle

180

60

Ifthepolygonisregular,youcancalculatethemeasureof
eachinteriorangleas:

360

90

540

108

720

120

900

129

1,080

135

1,260

140

10

1,440

144

Notation:TheGreekletterisequivalent
totheEnglishletterSandismathshorthand
forasummation(i.e.,addition)ofthings.

ExteriorAngles

Nomatterhowmanysidesthereareinapolygon,thesum
oftheexterioranglesis:

Ifthepolygonisregular,youcancalculatethemeasureof
eachexteriorangleas:

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ExteriorAngles

Sides

Sumof
Exterior
Angles

Each
Exterior
Angle

360

120

360

90

360

72

360

60

360

51

360

45

360

40

10

360

36

November 25, 2014

Geometry
DefinitionsofQuadrilaterals

Name

Definition

Quadrilateral

Apolygonwith4sides.

Kite

Aquadrilateralwithtwoconsecutivepairsofcongruentsides,but
withoppositesidesnotcongruent.

Trapezoid

Aquadrilateralwithexactlyonepairofparallelsides.

IsoscelesTrapezoid

Atrapezoidwithcongruentlegs.

Parallelogram

Aquadrilateralwithbothpairsofoppositesidesparallel.

Rectangle

Aparallelogramwithallanglescongruent(i.e.,rightangles).

Rhombus

Aparallelogramwithallsidescongruent.

Square

Aquadrilateralwithallsidescongruentandallanglescongruent.

QuadrilateralTree:
Quadrilateral

Kite

Parallelogram

Trapezoid

Rectangle

Rhombus

Isosceles
Trapezoid

Square

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Geometry
FiguresofQuadrilaterals

Kite

Trapezoid

IsoscelesTrapezoid

2consecutivepairsof
congruentsides
1pairofcongruent
oppositeangles
Diagonalsperpendicular

1pairofparallelsides
(calledbases)
Anglesonthesame
sideofthebasesare
supplementary

1pairofparallelsides
Congruentlegs
2pairofcongruentbase
angles
Diagonalscongruent

Parallelogram

Rectangle

Parallelogramwithallangles
congruent(i.e.,rightangles)
Diagonalscongruent

Bothpairsofoppositesidesparallel
Bothpairsofoppositesidescongruent
Bothpairsofoppositeanglescongruent
Consecutiveanglessupplementary
Diagonalsbisecteachother

Rhombus

Square

Parallelogramwithallsidescongruent
Diagonalsperpendicular
Eachdiagonalbisectsapairof
oppositeangles

BothaRhombusandaRectangle
Allanglescongruent(i.e.,rightangles)
Allsidescongruent

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Geometry
CharacteristicsofParallelograms

Characteristic

Square

Rhombus

Rectangle

Parallelogram

2pairofparallelsides

Oppositesidesarecongruent

Oppositeanglesarecongruent

Consecutiveanglesaresupplementary

Diagonalsbisecteachother

All4anglesarecongruent(i.e.,rightangles)

Diagonalsarecongruent

All4sidesarecongruent

Diagonalsareperpendicular

Eachdiagonalbisectsapairofoppositeangles

Notes:Red marksareconditionssufficienttoprovethequadrilateralisofthetypespecified.

Green marksareconditionssufficienttoprovethequadrilateralisofthetypespecifiedifthequadrilateralisa
parallelogram.

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Geometry
ParallelogramProofs

ProvingaQuadrilateralisaParallelogram
Toproveaquadrilateralisaparallelogram,proveanyofthefollowingconditions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Bothpairsofoppositesidesareparallel.(note:thisisthedefinitionofaparallelogram)
Bothpairsofoppositesidesarecongruent.
Bothpairsofoppositeanglesarecongruent.
Aninteriorangleissupplementarytobothofitsconsecutiveangles.
Itsdiagonalsbisecteachother.
Apairofoppositesidesisbothparallelandcongruent.

ProvingaQuadrilateralisaRectangle
Toproveaquadrilateralisarectangle,proveanyofthefollowingconditions:
1. All4anglesarecongruent.
2. Itisaparallelogramanditsdiagonalsarecongruent.

ProvingaQuadrilateralisaRhombus
Toproveaquadrilateralisarhombus,proveanyofthefollowingconditions:
1. All4sidesarecongruent.
2. ItisaparallelogramandItsdiagonalsareperpendicular.
3. Itisaparallelogramandeachdiagonalbisectsapairofoppositeangles.

ProvingaQuadrilateralisaSquare
Toproveaquadrilateralisasquare,prove:
1. ItisbothaRhombusandaRectangle.

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Geometry
KitesandTrapezoids

FactsaboutaKite
Toproveaquadrilateralisakite,prove:

Ithastwopairofcongruentsides.
Oppositesidesarenotcongruent.

Also,ifaquadrilateralisakite,then:

Itsdiagonalsareperpendicular
Ithasexactlyonepairofcongruentoppositeangles.

PartsofaTrapezoid
Midsegment

TrapezoidABCDhasthefollowingparts:

and arebases.
and arelegs.
isthemidsegment.
and arediagonals.
AnglesAandDformapairofbaseangles.
AnglesBandCformapairofbaseangles.

Base
Leg

Leg

Base

Diagonals

TrapezoidMidsegmentTheorem
Themidsegmentofatrapezoidisparalleltoeachofitsbasesand:

ProvingaQuadrilateralisanIsoscelesTrapezoid
Toproveaquadrilateralisanisoscelestrapezoid,proveanyofthefollowingconditions:
1. Itisatrapezoidandhasapairofcongruentlegs.(definitionofisoscelestrapezoid)
2. Itisatrapezoidandhasapairofcongruentbaseangles.
3. Itisatrapezoidanditsdiagonalsarecongruent.

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Geometry
IntroductiontoTransformation
ATransformationisamappingofthepreimageofageometricfigureontoanimagethat
retainskeycharacteristicsofthepreimage.

Definitions
ThePreImageisthegeometricfigurebeforeithasbeentransformed.
TheImageisthegeometricfigureafterithasbeentransformed.
Amappingisanassociationbetweenobjects.Transformationsaretypesofmappings.Inthe
figuresbelow,wesayABCDismappedontoABCD,or
.Theorderofthe
verticesiscriticaltoaproperlynamedmapping.
AnIsometryisaonetoonemappingthatpreserveslengths.Transformationsthatare
isometries(i.e.,preservelength)arecalledrigidtransformations.

IsometricTransformations

Reflectionisflippinga
figureacrossalinecalled
amirror.Thefigure
retainsitssizeandshape,
butappearsbackwards

afterthereflection.

Rotationisturninga
figurearoundapoint.
Rotatedfiguresretain
theirsizeandshape,but
nottheirorientation.

Translationisslidinga
figureintheplanesothat
itchangeslocationbut
retainsitsshape,sizeand
orientation.

TableofCharacteristicsofIsometricTransformations
Transformation

Reflection

Rotation

Translation

Isometry(RetainsLengths)?

Yes

Yes

Yes

RetainsAngles?

Yes

Yes

Yes

RetainsOrientationtoAxes?

No

No

Yes

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Geometry
IntroductiontoTransformation(contd)
TransformationofaPoint
Apointistheeasiestobjecttotransform.Simplyreflect,rotateortranslateitfollowingthe
rulesforthetransformationselected.Bytransformingkeypointsfirst,anytransformation
becomesmucheasier.

TransformationofaGeometricFigure
Totransformanygeometricfigure,itisonlynecessarytotransformtheitemsthatdefinethe
figure,andthenreformit.Forexample:

Totransformalinesegment,transformitstwoendpoints,andthenconnectthe
resultingimageswithalinesegment.

Totransformaray,transformtheinitialpointandanyotherpointontheray,andthen
constructarayusingtheresultingimages.

Totransformaline,transformanytwopointsontheline,andthenfitalinethroughthe
resultingimages.

Totransformapolygon,transformeachofitsvertices,andthenconnecttheresulting
imageswithlinesegments.

Totransformacircle,transformitscenterand,ifnecessary,itsradius.Fromthe
resultingimages,constructtheimagecircle.

Totransformotherconicsections(parabolas,ellipsesandhyperbolas),transformthe
foci,verticesand/ordirectrix.Fromtheresultingimages,constructtheimageconic
section.

Example:ReflectQuadrilateralABCD

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Geometry
Reflection
Definitions
Reflectionisflippingafigureacrossamirror.
TheLineofReflectionisthemirrorthroughwhichthe
reflectiontakesplace.
Notethat:

Thelinesegmentconnectingcorrespondingpointsin
theimageandpreimageisbisectedbythemirror.

Thelinesegmentconnectingcorrespondingpointsin
theimageandpreimageisperpendiculartothemirror.

ReflectionthroughanAxisortheLine

Reflectionofthepoint(a,b)throughthexoryaxisortheline
results:

givesthefollowing

PreImage
Point

Mirror
Line

Image
Point

(a, b)

xaxis

(a, b)

(a, b)

yaxis

(a, b)

(a, b)

the line:

(a, b)

Ifyouforgettheabovetable,startwiththepoint 3, 2 onasetofcoordinateaxes.Reflect
thepointthroughtheselectedlineandseewhichsetofa,bcoordinatesworks.

LineofSymmetry
ALineofSymmetryisanylinethroughwhichafigurecanbemappedontoitself.Thethinblack
linesinthefollowingfiguresshowtheiraxesofsymmetry:

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Geometry
Rotation
Definitions
Rotationisturningafigurebyanangleaboutafixedpoint.
TheCenterofRotationisthepointaboutwhichthefigureis
rotated.PointP,atright,isthecenterofrotation.
TheAngleofRotationdeterminestheextentoftherotation.
Theangleisformedbytheraysthatconnectthecenterof
rotationtothepreimageandtheimageoftherotation.Angle
P,atright,istheangleofrotation.Thoughshownonlyfor
PointA,theangleisthesameforanyofthefigures4vertices.
Note:Inperformingrotations,itisimportanttoindicatethedirectionoftherotation
clockwiseorcounterclockwise.

RotationabouttheOrigin
Rotationofthepoint(a,b)abouttheorigin(0,0)givesthefollowingresults:
PreImage
Point

Clockwise
Rotation

Counterclockwise
Rotation

Image
Point

(a, b)

90

270

(b, a)

(a, b)

180

180

(a, b)

(a, b)

270

90

(b, a)

(a, b)

360

360

(a, b)

Ifyouforgettheabovetable,startwiththepoint 3, 2 onasetofcoordinateaxes.Rotatethe
pointbytheselectedangleandseewhichsetofa,bcoordinatesworks.

RotationalSymmetry
AfigureinaplanehasRotationalSymmetryifitcanbemappedontoitselfbyarotationof
180orless.Anyregularpolygonhasrotationalsymmetry,asdoesacircle.Herearesome
examplesoffigureswithrotationalsymmetry:

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ADVANCED

Geometry
Rotationby90aboutaPoint(x0,y0)

Rotatinganobjectby90aboutapointinvolvesrotatingeachpointoftheobjectby90about
thatpoint.Forapolygon,thisisaccomplishedbyrotatingeachvertexandthenconnecting
themtoeachother,soyoumainlyhavetoworryaboutthevertices,whicharepoints.The
mathematicsbehindtheprocessofrotatingapointby90isdescribedbelow:

Letsdefinethefollowingpoints:
Thepointaboutwhichtherotationwilltakeplace:(x0,y0)
Theinitialpoint(beforerotation):(x1,y1)
Thefinalpoint(afterrotation):(x2,y2)

Theproblemistodetermine(x2,y2)ifwearegiven(x0,y0)and(x1,y1).Itinvolves3steps:
1. Converttheproblemtooneofrotatingapointabouttheorigin(amucheasier
problem).
2. Performtherotation.
3. Converttheresultbacktotheoriginalsetofaxes.

Wellconsidereachstepseparatelyandprovideanexample:

Problem:Rotateapointby90aboutanotherpoint.

Step1:Converttheproblemtooneofrotatingapointabouttheorigin:
First,weaskhowthepoint(x1,y1)relatestothepointaboutwhichitwillberotated(x0,
y0)andcreateanew(translated)point.Thisisessentiallyanaxistranslation,which
wewillreverseinStep3.
GeneralSituation
Example
PointsintheProblem
PointsintheProblem
RotationCenter:(x0,y0)
RotationCenter:(2,3)
Initialpoint:(x1,y1)
Initialpoint:(2,1)
Finalpoint:(x2,y2)
Finalpoint:tobedetermined
Calculateanewpointthatrepresentshow Calculateanewpointthatrepresentshow
(x1,y1)relatesto(x0,y0).Thatpointis:
(2,1)relatesto(2,3).Thatpointis:
(4,2)
(x1x0,y1y0)

Thenextstepsdependonwhetherwearemakingaclockwiseorcounterclockwiserotation.

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ADVANCED

Geometry
Rotationby90aboutaPoint(contd)

ClockwiseRotation:

Step2:Performtherotationabouttheorigin:
Rotatingby90clockwiseabouttheorigin(0,0)issimplyaprocessofswitchingthex
andyvaluesofapointandnegatingthenewyterm.Thatis(x,y)becomes(y,x)after
rotationby90.
GeneralSituation
Prerotatedpoint(fromStep1):
(x1x0,y1y0)
Pointafterrotation:
(y1y0,x1+x0)

Example
Prerotatedpoint(fromStep1):
(4,2)
Pointafterrotation:
(2,4)

Step3:Converttheresultbacktotheoriginalsetofaxes.

Todothis,simplyaddbackthepointofrotation(whichwassubtractedoutinStep1.
GeneralSituation
Pointafterrotation:
(y1y0,x1+x0)
Addbackthepointofrotation(x0,y0):
(y1y0+x0,x1+x0+y0)
whichgivesusthevaluesof(x2,y2)

Example
Pointafterrotation:
(2,4)
Addbackthepointofrotation(2,3):
(0,7)

Finally,lookattheformulasforx2andy2:

Noticethattheformulasfor
clockwiseandcounter
clockwiserotationby90are
thesameexceptthetermsin
bluearenegatedbetweenthe
formulas.

Clockwise Rotation

x2 = y1 - y0 + x0

y2 = -x1 + x0 + y0

Interestingnote:Ifyouareaskedtofindthepointaboutwhichtherotationoccurred,you
simplysubstituteinthevaluesforthestartingpoint(x1,y1)andtheendingpoint(x2,y2)and
solvetheresultingpairofsimultaneousequationsforx0andy0.

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ADVANCED

Geometry
Rotationby90aboutaPoint(contd)

CounterClockwiseRotation:

Step2:Performtherotationabouttheorigin:
Rotatingby90counterclockwiseabouttheorigin(0,0)issimplyaprocessofswitching
thexandyvaluesofapointandnegatingthenewxterm.Thatis(x,y)becomes(y,x)
afterrotationby90.
GeneralSituation
Prerotatedpoint(fromStep1):
(x1x0,y1y0)
Pointafterrotation:
(y1+y0,x1x0)

Example
Prerotatedpoint(fromStep1):
(4,2)
Pointafterrotation:
(2,4)

Step3:Converttheresultbacktotheoriginalsetofaxes.

Todothis,simplyaddbackthepointofrotation(whichwassubtractedoutinStep1.
GeneralSituation
Pointafterrotation:
(y1+y0,x1x0)
Addbackthepointofrotation(x0,y0):
(y1+y0+x0,x1x0+y0)
whichgivesusthevaluesof(x2,y2)

Example
Pointafterrotation:
(2,4)
Addbackthepointofrotation(2,3):
(4,1)

Finally,lookattheformulasforx2andy2:

Counter-Clockwise Rotation

Noticethattheformulasfor
clockwiseandcounter
clockwiserotationby90are
thesameexceptthetermsin
bluearenegatedbetweenthe
formulas.

x2 = -y1 + y0 + x0

y2 = x1 - x0 + y0

Interestingnote:Thepointhalfwaybetweentheclockwiseandcounterclockwiserotationsof
90isthecenterofrotationitself,(x0,y0).Intheexample,(2,3)ishalfwaybetween(0,7)and
(4,1).

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Geometry
Translation
Definitions

Translationisslidingafigureintheplane.Each
pointinthefigureismovedthesamedistancein

thesamedirection.Theresultisanimagethat

looksthesameasthepreimageineveryway,
exceptithasbeenmovedtoadifferentlocation

intheplane.

Eachofthefourorangelinesegmentsinthe

figureatrighthasthesamelengthanddirection.

WhenTwoReflections OneTranslation
Iftwomirrorsareparallel,thenreflectionthrough
oneofthem,followedbyareflectionthroughthe
secondisatranslation.
Inthefigureatright,theblacklinesshowthepaths
ofthetworeflections;thisisalsothepathofthe
resultingtranslation.Notethefollowing:

Thedistanceoftheresultingtranslation
(e.g.,fromAtoA)isdoublethedistance
betweenthemirrors.

Theblacklinesofmovementareperpendiculartobothmirrors.

DefiningTranslationsintheCoordinatePlane(UsingVectors)
Atranslationmoveseachpointbythesamedistanceinthesamedirection.Inthecoordinate
plane,thisisequivalenttomovingeachpointthesameamountinthexdirectionandthesame
amountintheydirection.Thiscombinationofxandydirectionmovementisdescribedbya
mathematicalconceptcalledavector.
Intheabovefigure,translationfromAto moves10inthexdirectionandthe3inthey
direction.Invectornotation,thisis:
,
.Noticethehalfraysymboloverthe
twopointsandthefunnylookingbracketsaroundthemovementvalues.
So,thetranslationresultingfromthetworeflectionsintheabovefiguremoveseachpointof
thepreimagebythevector
.Everytranslationcanbedefinedbythevectorrepresenting
itsmovementinthecoordinateplane.

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Geometry
Compositions
Whenmultipletransformationsarecombined,theresultiscalledaCompositionofthe
Transformations.Twoexamplesofthisare:

Combiningtworeflectionsthroughparallelmirrorstogenerateatranslation(seethe
previouspage).

Combiningatranslationandareflectiontogeneratewhatiscalledaglidereflection.
Theglidepartofthenamereferstotranslation,whichisakindofglidingofafigureon
theplane.

Note:Inaglidereflection,ifthelineofreflectionisparalleltothedirectionofthe
translation,itdoesnotmatterwhetherthereflectionorthetranslationisperformedfirst.

Figure1:TranslationfollowedbyReflection.

Figure2:ReflectionfollowedbyTranslation.

CompositionTheorem
ThecompositionofmultipleisometriesisasIsometry.Putmoresimply,iftransformationsthat
preservelengtharecombined,thecompositionwillpreservelength.Thisisalsotrueof
compositionsoftransformationsthatpreserveanglemeasure.

OrderofComposition
Ordermattersinmostcompositionsthatinvolvemorethanoneclassoftransformation.Ifyou
applymultipletransformationsofthesamekind(e.g.,reflection,rotation,ortranslation),order
generallydoesnotmatter;however,applyingtransformationsinmorethanoneclassmay
producedifferentfinalimagesiftheorderisswitched.

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Geometry
RatiosInvolvingUnits

RatiosInvolvingUnits
Example:

Whensimplifyingratioscontainingthesameunits:

3
12

Simplifythefraction.

Notice that the units disappear. They behave

Note:theunitinchescancelout,so
theansweris ,not

Whensimplifyingratioscontainingdifferentunits:

Adjusttheratiosothatthenumeratoranddenominatorhavethesameunits.

Simplifythefraction.

Noticethattheunitsdisappear.
Example:
3
2

3
2

3
24

12

DealingwithUnits
Noticeintheaboveexamplethatunitscanbetreatedthesameasfactors;theycanbeusedin
fractions and they cancel when they divide. This fact can be used to figure out whether
multiplicationordivisionisneededinaproblem.Considerthefollowing:
Example:Howlongdidittakeforacartravelingat48milesperhourtogo32miles?
Considertheunitsofeachitem:

Ifyoumultiply,youget: 32

If you divide, you get: 32

32

48

48

1,536

.Thisisclearlywrong!

48

thislooksreasonable.Noticehowthe"

. Now,

"unitcanceloutinthefinalanswer.

Now you could have solved this problem by remembering that

, or
. However, paying close attention to the units also generates the correct answer. In
addition,theunitstechniquealwaysworks,nomatterwhattheproblem!

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Geometry
SimilarPolygons
Insimilarpolygons,

Correspondinganglesarecongruent,and
Correspondingsidesareproportional.

Bothoftheseconditionsarenecessaryfortwo
polygonstobesimilar.Conversely,whentwo
polygonsaresimilar,allofthecorresponding
anglesarecongruentandallofthesidesareproportional.

NamingSimilarPolygons
Similarpolygonsshouldbenamedsuchthatcorrespondinganglesareinthesamelocationin
thename,andtheorderofthepointsinthenameshouldfollowthepolygonaround.
Example:Thepolygonsabovecouldbeshownsimilarwiththefollowingnames:
~

Itwouldalsobeacceptabletoshowthesimilarityas:
~

Anynamesthatpreservetheorderofthepointsandkeepscorrespondinganglesin
correspondinglocationsinthenameswouldbeacceptable.

Proportions
Onecommonproblemrelatingtosimilarpolygonsistopresentthreesidelengths,wheretwo
ofthesidescorrespond,andtoaskforthelengthofthesidecorrespondingtothethirdlength.
20,

Example:Intheabovesimilarpolygons,if

12,

6,

Thisproblemissolvablewithproportions.Todosoproperly,itisimportanttorelate
correspondingitemsintheproportion:
20

12
6

10

Noticethattheleftpolygonisrepresentedonthetopofbothproportionsandthattheleft
mostsegmentsofthetwopolygonsareintheleftfraction.

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Geometry
ScaleFactorsofSimilarPolygons
Fromthesimilarpolygonsbelow,thefollowingisknownaboutthelengthsofthesides:

Thatis,theratiosofcorrespondingsidesinthe
twopolygonsarethesameandtheyequal
someconstant ,calledthescalefactorofthe
twopolygons.Thevalueof ,then,isallyou
needtoknowtorelatecorrespondingsidesin
thetwopolygons.

FindingtheMissingLength
Anytimethestudentisaskedtofindthemissinglengthinsimilarpolygons:
Lookfortwocorrespondingsidesforwhichthevaluesareknown.
Calculatethevalueof .
Usethevalueof tosolveforthemissinglength.
isameasureoftherelativesizeofthetwopolygons.Usingthisknowledge,itispossibleto
putintowordsaneasilyunderstandablerelationshipbetweenthepolygons.

LetPolygon1betheonewhosesidesareinthenumeratorsofthefractions.
LetPolygon2betheonewhosesidesareinthedenominatorsofthefractions.
Then,itcanbesaidthatPolygon1is timesthesizeofthePolygon2.
20,

Example:Intheabovesimilarpolygons,if
Seeingthat

and

6,

relate,calculate:
12
6

Thensolvefor

12,

basedonthevalueof :
20

10

Also,since
2,thelengthofeverysideinthebluepolygonisdoublethelengthofits
correspondingsideintheorangepolygon.

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Geometry
DilationofPolygons
Adilationisaspecialcaseoftransformationinvolvingsimilarpolygons.Itcanbethoughtofas
atransformationthatcreatesapolygonofthesameshapebutadifferentsizefromtheoriginal.
Keyelementsofadilationare:

ScaleFactorThescalefactorofsimilarpolygonsistheconstant whichrepresentsthe
relativesizesofthepolygons.

CenterThecenteristhepointfromwhichthedilationtakesplace.

Notethat

0 and

1inordertogenerateasecondpolygon.Then,

If

1,thedilationiscalledanenlargement.

If

1,thedilationiscalledareduction.

DilationswithCenter(0,0)
Incoordinategeometry,dilationsareoftenperformedwiththecenterbeingtheorigin 0, 0 .
Inthatcase,toobtainthedilationofapolygon:

Multiplythecoordinatesofeachvertexbythescalefactor ,and

Connecttheverticesofthedilationwithlinesegments(i.e.,connectthedots).

Examples:
Inthefollowingexamples:

Thegreenpolygonistheoriginal.

Thebluepolygonisthedilation.

Thedashedorangelinesshowthemovementawayfrom
(enlargement)ortoward(reduction)thecenter,whichis
theorigininall3examples.

Noticethat,ineachexample:

Thisfactcanbeusedtoconstructdilationswhencoordinateaxes
arenotavailable.Alternatively,thestudentcoulddrawasetof
coordinateaxesasanaidtoperformingthedilation.

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ADVANCED

Geometry
MoreonDilation
DilationsofNonPolygons
Anygeometricfigurecanbedilated.Inthedilationofthe
greencircleatright,noticethat:

Thedilationfactoris2.

Theoriginalcirclehascenter 7, 3 andradius

Thedilatedcirclehascenter 14, 6 andradius

5.
10.

So,thecenterandradiusarebothincreasedbyafactorof
2.Thisistrueofanyfigureina
dilationwiththecenterattheorigin.Allofthekeyelementsthatdefinethefigureare
increasedbythescalefactor .

DilationswithCenter

Inthefiguresbelow,thegreenquadrilateralsaredilatedtotheblueoneswithascalefactorof
2.Noticethefollowing:
Inthefiguretotheleft,thedilationhascenter
0, 0 ,whereasinthefiguretotheright,the
dilationhascenter 4, 3 .Thesizeofthe
resultingfigureisthesameinbothcases
(because
2inbothfigures),butthe
locationisdifferent.
Graphically,theseriesoftransformationsthatisequivalenttoadilationfromapoint ,
otherthantheoriginisshownbelow.Comparethefinalresulttothefigureabove(right).

Step1:Translatetheoriginalfigureby

Step2:Performthedilation.

Step3:Translatethedilatedfigureby ,

Step1
Version 2.6

toresetthecenterattheorigin.
.Thesestepsareillustratedbelow.

Step2
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November 25, 2014

Geometry
SimilarTriangles

Thefollowingtheoremspresentconditionsunderwhichtrianglesaresimilar.

SideAngleSide(SAS)Similarity

SASsimilarity requirestheproportionality of
twosidesandthecongruenceoftheangle
betweenthosesides.Notethatthereisnosuch
thingasSSAsimilarity;thecongruentanglemust
bebetweenthetwoproportionalsides.

SideSideSide(SSS)Similarity

SSSsimilarity requirestheproportionalityofall
threesides.Ifallofthesidesareproportional,
thenalloftheanglesmustbecongruent.

AAsimilarity requiresthecongruenceoftwo
anglesandthesidebetweenthoseangles.

AngleAngle(AA)Similarity

SimilarTriangleParts
Insimilartriangles,
Correspondingsidesareproportional.
Correspondinganglesarecongruent.
Establishingthepropernamesforsimilartrianglesiscrucialtolineupcorrespondingvertices.
Inthepictureabove,wecansay:

~
~

or
or

~
~

or
or

~
~

or

Allofthesearecorrectbecausetheymatchcorrespondingpartsinthenaming.Eachofthese
similaritiesimpliesthefollowingrelationshipsbetweenpartsofthetwotriangles:

Version 2.6

and

and

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Geometry
ProportionTablesforSimilarTriangles

SettingUpaTableofProportions
Itisoftenusefultosetupatabletoidentifytheproperproportions
inasimilarity.Considerthefiguretotheright.Thetablemightlook
somethinglikethis:
Triangle

LeftSide

RightSide

BottomSide

Top

AB

BC

CA

Bottom

DE

EF

FD

Thepurposeofatablelikethisistoorganizetheinformationyouhaveaboutthesimilar
trianglessothatyoucanreadilydeveloptheproportionsyouneed.

DevelopingtheProportions
Todevelopproportionsfromthetable:

Extractthecolumnsneededfromthetable:

AB

BC

DE

EF

Alsofromtheabove
table,

Eliminatethetablelines.

Replacethehorizontallineswithdivisionlines.

Putanequalsignbetweenthetworesultingfractions:

Solvingfortheunknownlengthofaside:
Youcanextractanytwocolumnsyoulikefromthetable.Usually,youwillhaveinformationon
lengthsofthreeofthesidesandwillbeaskedtocalculateafourth.
Lookinthetableforthecolumnsthatcontainthe4sidesinquestion,andthensetupyour
proportion.Substituteknownvaluesintotheproportion,andsolvefortheremainingvariable.

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Geometry
ThreeSimilarTriangles

Acommonproblemingeometryistofindthemissingvalueinproportionsbasedonasetof
threesimilartriangles,twoofwhichareinsidethethird.Thediagramoftenlookslikethis:

PythagoreanRelationships

Insidetriangleontheleft:

Insidetriangleontheright:

Outside(large)triangle:

SimilarTriangleRelationships
Becauseallthreetrianglesaresimilar,wehavetherelationshipsinthetablebelow.These
relationshipsarenotobviousfromthepicture,butareveryusefulinsolvingproblemsbasedon
theabovediagram.Usingsimilaritiesbetweenthetriangles,2atatime,weget:

Fromthetwoinsidetriangles

Fromtheinsidetriangleon
theleftandtheoutside
triangle

or

or

Fromtheinsidetriangleon
therightandtheoutside
triangle

or

Theheightsquared

Theleftsidesquared

Therightsidesquared

=theproductof:

=theproductof:

=theproductof:

thetwopartsofthebase

thepartofthebasebelowit
andtheentirebase

thepartofthebasebelowit
andtheentirebase

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Geometry
PythagoreanTheorem

Inarighttriangle,thePythagoreanTheoremsays:

where,
a and b are the lengths of the legs of a right
triangle,and
cisthelengthofthehypotenuse.

Right,Acute,orObtuseTriangle?
Inadditiontoallowingthesolutionofrighttriangles,thePythagoreanFormulacanbeusedto
determinewhetheratriangleisarighttriangle,anacutetriangle,oranobtusetriangle.
Todeterminewhetheratriangleisobtuse,right,oracute:

Arrangethelengthsofthesidesfromlowtohigh;callthema,b,andc,inincreasingorder

Calculate:

Compare:

Usetheillustrationsbelowtodeterminewhichtypeoftriangleyouhave.

, and

vs.

ObtuseTriangle

RightTriangle

AcuteTriangle

Example:

Example:

Example:

Trianglewithsides:7,9,12

Trianglewithsides:6,8,10

Trianglewithsides:5,8,9

7
9
49 81

. 12
144

6
8
36 64

Version 2.6

5
8
25 64

. 10
100

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. 9
81

November 25, 2014

Geometry
PythagoreanTriples

PythagoreanTheorem:

Pythagoreantriplesaresetsof3positiveintegersthatmeettherequirementsofthe
PythagoreanTheorem.Becausethesesetsofintegersprovideprettysolutionstogeometry
problems,theyareafavoriteofgeometrybooksandteachers.Knowingwhattriplesexistcan
helpthestudentquicklyidentifysolutionstoproblemsthatmightotherwisetakeconsiderable
timetosolve.

345TriangleFamily

72425TriangleFamily

Sample

Triples

345

6810
91215

Sample
Triples
72425
144850
217275
...
70240250

121620
304050

25

49

51213TriangleFamily

81517TriangleFamily

16

576

625

Sample
Triples

Sample
Triples

51213
102426
153639
...
50120130

81517
163034
244551
...
80150170

25

Version 2.6

144

169

64

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Geometry
SpecialTriangles
Therelationshipamongthelengthsofthesidesofatriangleisdependentonthemeasuresof
theanglesinthetriangle.Forarighttriangle(i.e.,onethatcontainsa90angle),twospecial
casesareofparticularinterest.Theseareshownbelow:

454590Triangle

Ina454590triangle,thecongruenceoftwo
anglesguaranteesthecongruenceofthetwo
legsofthetriangle.Theproportionsofthethree

.Thatis,thetwolegshave

sidesare:

thesamelengthandthehypotenuseis times
aslongaseitherleg.

306090Triangle

Ina306090triangle,theproportionsofthe
.Thatis,thelongleg

is timesaslongastheshortleg,andthe
hypotenuseis timesaslongastheshortleg.
threesidesare:

Inarighttriangle,weneedtoknowthelengthsoftwosidestodeterminethelengthofthe
third.Thepoweroftherelationshipsinthespecialtrianglesliesinthefactthatweneedonly
knowthelengthofonesideofthetriangletodeterminethelengthsoftheothertwosides.
ExampleSideLengths

454590Triangle

Version 2.6

306090Triangle

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Geometry
TrigFunctionsandSpecialAngles

TrigonometricFunctions

SOHCAHTOA
sin

cos

tan

SpecialAngles

sin

cos

cos

tan

tan

TrigFunctionsofSpecialAngles
Radians Degrees

sin

0
2

4
2

1
2

3
2

30

45

2
2

2
2

60

3
2

1
2

90

4
2

0
2

0
4
1
3

3
1

0
3

1
3

undefined

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Geometry
TrigonometricFunctionValuesinQuadrantsII,III,andIV
InquadrantsotherthanQuadrantI,trigonometricvaluesforanglesarecalculatedinthe
followingmanner:

DrawtheangleontheCartesianPlane.

Calculatethemeasureoftheanglefromthex
axisto.

Findthevalueofthetrigonometricfunctionof
theangleinthepreviousstep.

Assigna or signtothetrigonometric
valuebasedonthefunctionusedandthe
quadrantisin.

Examples:
inQuadrantIICalculate: 180
120,baseyourworkon180

For
sin 60

,so:

120

60

inQuadrantIIICalculate:

For
cos 30

180

210,baseyourworkon210

,so:

180

30

inQuadrantIVCalculate: 360
315,baseyourworkon360

For

tan 45

1,so:

315

45

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Geometry
GraphsofTrigonometricFunctions

Thesineandcosecantfunctionsareinverses.So:

sin

1
csc

and

csc

sin

Thecosineandsecantfunctionsareinverses.So:

cos

1
sec

and

sec

cos

Thetangentandcotangentfunctionsareinverses.So:

tan

1
cot

and

cot

tan

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Geometry
Vectors
Definitions

Avectorisageometricobjectthathasboth
magnitude(length)anddirection.

TheTailofthevectoristheendoppositethearrow.
Itrepresentswherethevectorismovingfrom.

TheHeadofthevectoristheendwiththearrow.It
representswherethevectorismovingto.

TheZeroVectorisdenoted0.Ithaszerolengthand
allthepropertiesofzero.

Twovectorsareequalistheyhaveboththesamemagnitudeandthesamedirection.

Twovectorsareparalleliftheyhavethesameoroppositedirections.Thatis,iftheangles
ofthevectorsarethesameor180different.
Twovectorsareperpendicularifthedifferenceoftheanglesofthevectorsis90or270.
MagnitudeofaVector
Thedistanceformulagivesthemagnitudeofavector.Iftheheadandtailofvectorvarethe
points
,
and
,
,thenthemagnitudeofvis:

| |
Notethat
arethesame.

.Thedirectionsofthetwovectorsareopposite,buttheirmagnitudes

DirectionofaVector
Thedirectionofavectorisdeterminedbytheangleitmakes
withahorizontalline.Inthefigureatright,thedirectionisthe
angle .Thevalueof canbecalculatedbasedonthelengths
ofthesidesofthetrianglethevectorforms.
or

wherethefunctiontan1istheinversetangentfunction.Thesecondequationinthelineabove
reads istheanglewhosetangentis .

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Geometry
OperationswithVectors
Itispossibletooperatewithvectorsinsomeofthesamewaysweoperatewithnumbers.In
particular:

AddingVectors
Vectorscanbeaddedinrectangularformbyseparatelyaddingtheirxandycomponents.In
general,

Example:Inthefigureatright,

4, 3

2, 6
4, 3

2, 6

6, 3

VectorAlgebra

ab

a
b

a b

b a

ScalarMultiplication
Scalarmultiplicationchangesthemagnitudeofavector,butnotthedirection.Ingeneral,

Inthefigureatright,

4, 3
2 4, 3

8, 6

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Geometry
PartsofCircles

Centerthemiddleofthecircle.Allpointsonthecircle
arethesamedistancefromthecenter.

Radiusalinesegmentwithoneendpointatthecenter
andtheotherendpointonthecircle.Thetermradiusis
alsousedtorefertothedistancefromthecentertothe
pointsonthecircle.

Diameteralinesegmentwithendpointsonthecircle
thatpassesthroughthecenter.

Arcapathalongacircle.

MinorArcapathalongthecirclethatislessthan180.
MajorArcapathalongthecirclethatisgreaterthan
180.
Semicircleapathalongacirclethatequals180.
Sectoraregioninsideacirclethatisboundedbytwo
radiiandanarc.

SecantLinealinethatintersectsthecirclein
exactlytwopoints.

TangentLinealinethatintersectsthecircle
inexactlyonepoint.
Chordalinesegmentwithendpointsonthe
circlethatdoesnotpassthroughthecenter.

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Geometry
AnglesandCircles

CentralAngle

InscribedAngle

Vertexinsidethecircle

Vertexoutsidethecircle

Tangentsontwosides

Tangentononeside

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Geometry
PerimeterandAreaofaTriangle

PerimeterofaTriangle
Theperimeterofatriangleissimplythesumofthemeasuresofthethreesidesofthetriangle.

AreaofaTriangle
Therearetwoformulasfortheareaofatriangle,dependingonwhatinformationaboutthe
triangleisavailable.
Formula1:Theformulamostfamiliartothestudentcanbeusedwhenthebaseandheightof
thetriangleareeitherknownorcanbedetermined.

where,

isthelengthofthebaseofthetriangle.
istheheightofthetriangle.

Note:Thebasecanbeanysideofthetriangle.Theheightisthemeasureofthealtitudeof
whicheversideisselectedasthebase.So,youcanuse:

or

or

Formula2:Heronsformulafortheareaofatrianglecanbeusedwhen
thelengthsofallofthesidesareknown.Sometimesthisformula,
thoughlessappealing,canbeveryuseful.

where,

Note: issometimescalledthesemiperimeterofthetriangle.

, , arethelengthsofthesidesofthetriangle.

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ADVANCED

Geometry
MoreontheAreaofaTriangle

TrigonometricFormulas
Thefollowingformulasfortheareaofatrianglecomefromtrigonometry.Whichoneisused
dependsontheinformationavailable:
Twoanglesandaside:

Twosidesandanangle:

CoordinateGeometry
Ifthethreeverticesofatrianglearedisplayedinacoordinateplane,theformulabelow,usinga
determinant,willgivetheareaofatriangle.
Letthethreepointsinthecoordinateplanebe: ,
,
,
,
,
thetriangleisonehalfoftheabsolutevalueofthedeterminantbelow:

.Then,theareaof

Example:Forthetriangleinthefigureatright,theareais:

Version 2.6

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Geometry
PerimeterandAreaofQuadrilaterals
Name

Illustration

Perimeter

Area

Kite

1
2

Trapezoid

1
2

Parallelogram

Rectangle

Rhombus

Square

1
2

1
2

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Geometry
PerimeterandAreaofRegularPolygons
DefinitionsRegularPolygons

Thecenterofapolygonisthecenterofitscircumscribed
circle.PointOisthecenterofthehexagonatright.

Theradiusofthepolygonistheradiusofits
circumscribedcircle. and arebothradiiofthe
hexagonatright.

Theapothemofapolygonisthedistancefromthecenter
tothemidpointofanyofitssides.aistheapothemof
thehexagonatright.

Thecentralangleofapolygonisananglewhosevertexisthecenterofthecircleandwhose
sidespassthroughconsecutiveverticesofthepolygon.Inthefigureabove,
isa
centralangleofthehexagon.

AreaofaRegularPolygon

where,

istheapothemofthepolygon
istheperimeterofthepolygon

PerimeterandAreaofSimilarFigures
LetkbethescalefactorrelatingtwosimilargeometricfiguresF1andF2suchthat

Then,

and

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Geometry
CircleLengthsandAreas

CircumferenceandArea

isthecircumference(i.e.,theperimeter)ofthecircle.

istheareaofthecircle.

where: istheradiusofthecircle.

LengthofanArconaCircle
Acommonprobleminthegeometryofcirclesistomeasurethelengthofanarconacircle.
Definition:Anarcisasegmentalongthecircumferenceofacircle.

where:

ABisthemeasure(indegrees)ofthearc.Notethat
thisisalsothemeasureofthecentralangle
.

isthecircumferenceofthecircle.

AreaofaSectorofaCircle
Anothercommonprobleminthegeometryofcirclesistomeasuretheareaofasectoracircle.
Definition:Asectorisaregioninacirclethatisboundedbytworadiiandanarcofthecircle.

where:

ABisthemeasure(indegrees)ofthearc.Notethat
thisisalsothemeasureofthecentralangle
.

istheareaofthecircle.

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Geometry
AreaofCompositeFigures
Tocalculatetheareaofafigurethatisacompositeofshapes,considereachshapeseparately.
Example1:
Calculatetheareaoftheblueregioninthefiguretotheright.
Tosolvethis:
Recognizethatthefigureisthecompositeofa
rectangleandtwotriangles.
Disassemblethecompositefigureintoitscomponents.
Calculatetheareaofthecomponents.
Subtracttogettheareaofthecompositefigure.

Example2:
Calculatetheareaoftheblueregioninthefiguretotheright.
Tosolvethis:
Recognizethatthefigureisthecompositeofasquareanda
circle.
Disassemblethecompositefigureintoitscomponents.
Calculatetheareaofthecomponents.
Subtracttogettheareaofthecompositefigure.

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Geometry
Polyhedra
Definitions
Faces

APolyhedronisa3dimensionalsolidboundedbyaseries
ofpolygons.

Facesarethepolygonsthatboundthepolyhedron.

AnEdgeisthelinesegmentattheintersectionoftwofaces.

AVertexisapointattheintersectionoftwoedges.

ARegularpolyhedronisoneinwhichallofthefacesarethe
sameregularpolygon.

AConvexPolyhedronisoneinwhichalldiagonalsarecontainedwithintheinteriorofthe
polyhedron.AConcavepolyhedronisonethatisnotconvex.

ACrossSectionistheintersectionofaplanewiththepolyhedron.

Edges
Vertices

EulersTheorem
Let:

thenumberoffacesofapolyhedron.

EulersTheoremExample:

thenumberofverticesofapolyhedron.

Thecubeabovehas

thenumberofedgesofapolyhedron.

Then,foranypolyhedronthatdoesnotintersectitself,

6faces

8vertices

12edges

CalculatingtheNumberofEdges
Thenumberofedgesofapolyhedronisonehalfthenumberofsidesinthepolygonsit
comprises.Eachsidethatiscountedinthiswayissharedbytwopolygons;simplyaddingall
thesidesofthepolygons,therefore,doublecountsthenumberofedgesonthepolyhedron.
Example:Considerasoccerball.Itispolyhedronmadeupof20
hexagonsand12pentagons.Thenthenumberofedgesis:

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ADVANCED

Geometry
AHoleinEulersTheorem
Topologyisabranchofmathematicsthatstudiesthepropertiesofobjectsthatarepreserved
throughmanipulationthatdoesnotincludetearing.Anobjectmaybestretched,twistedand
otherwisedeformed,butnottorn.Inthisbranchofmathematics,adonutisequivalenttoa
coffeecupbecausebothhaveonehole;youcandeformeitherthecuporthedonutandcreate
theother,likeyouareplayingwithclay.
Alloftheusualpolyhedrahavenoholesinthem,soEulersEquationholds.Whathappensif
weallowthepolyhedratohaveholesinthem?Thatis,whatifweconsidertopologicalshapes
differentfromtheoneswenormallyconsider?

EulersCharacteristic
WhenEulersEquationisrewrittenas
calledtheEulerCharacteristic.

,thelefthandsideoftheequationis

TheEulerCharacteristicofashapeis:

GeneralizedEulersTheorem
Let:

thenumberoffacesofapolyhedron.

thenumberofverticesofapolyhedron.

thenumberofedgesofapolyhedron.

thenumberofholesinthepolyhedron. is
calledthegenusoftheshape.

Then,foranypolyhedronthatdoesnotintersectitself,

Example:
Thecubewithatunnelinithas

NotethatthevalueofEulersCharacteristiccanbe
negativeiftheshapehasmorethanoneholeinit(i.e.,if
2)!

16
32
16
so,

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Geometry
PlatonicSolids
APlatonicSolidisaconvexregularpolyhedronwithfacescomposedofcongruentconvex
regularpolygons.Therefiveofthem:

KeyPropertiesofPlatonicSolids
Itisinterestingtolookatthekeypropertiesoftheseregularpolyhedra.
Name

Faces

Vertices

Edges

TypeofFace

Tetrahedron

Triangle

Cube

12

Square

Octahedron

12

Triangle

Dodecahedron

12

20

30

Pentagon

Icosahedron

20

12

30

Triangle

Noticethefollowingpatternsinthetable:

Allofthenumbersoffacesareeven.Onlythecubehasanumberoffacesthatisnota
multipleof4.
Allofthenumbersofverticesareeven.Onlytheoctahedronhasanumberoffacesthat
isnotamultipleof4.
Thenumberoffacesandverticesseemtoalternate(e.g.,cube68vs.octahedron86).
Allofthenumbersofedgesaremultiplesof6.
Thereareonlythreepossibilitiesforthenumbersofedges6,12and30.
Thefacesareoneof:regulartriangles,squaresorregularpentagons.

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Geometry
Prisms
Definitions

APrismisapolyhedronwithtwocongruentpolygonalfaces
thatlieinparallelplanes.

TheBasesaretheparallelpolygonalfaces.

TheLateralFacesarethefacesthatarenotbases.

TheLateralEdgesaretheedgesbetweenthelateralfaces.

TheSlantHeightisthelengthofalateraledge.Notethat
alllateraledgesarethesamelength.

TheHeightistheperpendicularlengthbetweenthebases.

ARightPrismisoneinwhichtheanglesbetweenthebasesandthe
lateraledgesarerightangles.Notethatinarightprism,theheightand
theslantheightarethesame.

AnObliquePrismisonethatisnotarightprism.

TheSurfaceAreaofaprismisthesumoftheareasofallitsfaces.

TheLateralAreaofaprismisthesumoftheareasofitslateralfaces.

RightHexagonal
Prism

SurfaceAreaandVolumeofaRightPrism
SurfaceArea:
LateralSA:

Volume:

where,

CavalierisPrinciple
Iftwosolidshavethesameheightandthesamecrosssectionalareaateverylevel,thenthey
havethesamevolume.Thisprincipleallowsustoderiveaformulaforthevolumeofan
obliqueprismfromtheformulaforthevolumeofarightprism.

SurfaceAreaandVolumeofanObliquePrism
SurfaceArea:
LateralSA:

Volume:

Version 2.6

where,

Page 69 of 82

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Geometry
Cylinders
Definitions

ACylinderisafigurewithtwocongruentcircularbasesinparallelplanes.

AcylinderhasonlyoneLateralSurface.Whendeconstructed,thelateralsurfaceofa
cylinderisarectanglewithlengthequaltothecircumferenceofthebase.

TherearenoLateralEdgesinacylinder.

TheSlantHeightisthelengthofthelateralsidebetweenthebases.Note
thatalllateraldistancesarethesamelength.Theslantheighthas
applicabilityonlyifthecylinderisoblique.

TheHeightistheperpendicularlengthbetweenthebases.

ARightCylinderisoneinwhichtheanglesbetweenthebasesandthelateralsideareright
angles.Notethatinarightcylinder,theheightandtheslantheightarethesame.

AnObliqueCylinderisonethatisnotarightcylinder.

TheSurfaceAreaofacylinderisthesumoftheareasofitsbasesanditslateralsurface.

TheLateralAreaofacylinderistheareasofitslateralsurface.

SurfaceAreaandVolumeofaRightCylinder
SurfaceArea:

LateralSA:

Volume:

where,

SurfaceAreaandVolumeofanObliquePrism
SurfaceArea:

LateralSA:

Volume:

where,

Version 2.6

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Geometry
SurfaceAreabyDecomposition
Sometimesthestudentisaskedtocalculatethesurfaceareofaprismthatdoesnotquitefit
intooneofthecategoriesforwhichaneasyformulaexists.Inthiscase,theanswermaybeto
decomposetheprismintoitscomponentshapes,andthencalculatetheareasofthe
components.Note:thisprocessalsoworkswithcylindersandpyramids.

DecompositionofaPrism
Tocalculatethesurfaceareaofaprism,decomposeitandlookateachoftheprismsfaces
individually.
Example:Calculatethesurfaceareaofthetriangularprismatright.
Todothis,firstnoticethatweneedthevalueofthehypotenuseofthe
base.UsethePythagoreanTheoremorPythagoreanTriplesto
determinethemissingvalueis10.Then,decomposethefigureintoits
variousfaces:

Thesurfacearea,then,iscalculatedas:
2
2

1
68
2

10 7

87

67

216

DecompositionofaCylinder
Thecylinderatrightis
decomposedintotwocircles(the
bases)andarectangle(thelateral
face).
Thesurfacearea,then,iscalculatedas:
2
2

6 5

48

~ 150.80

Version 2.6

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November 25, 2014

Geometry
Pyramids
Pyramids

APyramidisapolyhedroninwhichthebaseisapolygonand
thelateralsidesaretriangleswithacommonvertex.

TheBaseisapolygonofanysizeorshape.

TheLateralFacesarethefacesthatarenotthebase.

TheLateralEdgesaretheedgesbetweenthelateralfaces.

TheApexofthepyramidistheintersectionofthelateral
edges.Itisthepointatthetopofthepyramid.

TheSlantHeightofaregularpyramidisthealtitudeofoneof
thelateralfaces.

TheHeightistheperpendicularlengthbetweenthebaseandtheapex.

ARegularPyramidisoneinwhichthelateralfacesarecongruenttriangles.Theheightofa
regularpyramidintersectsthebaseatitscenter.

AnObliquePyramidisonethatisnotarightpyramid.Thatis,the
apexisnotaligneddirectlyabovethecenterofthebase.

TheSurfaceAreaofapyramidisthesumoftheareasofallits
faces.

TheLateralAreaofapyramidisthesumoftheareasofitslateral
faces.

SurfaceAreaandVolumeofaRegularPyramid
SurfaceArea:
LateralSA:

Volume:

where,

SurfaceAreaandVolumeofanObliquePyramid
SurfaceArea:
Volume:

where,

Thelateralsurfaceareaofanobliquepyramidisthesumof

theareasofthefaces,whichmustbecalculatedindividually.

Version 2.6

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Geometry
Cones
Definitions

ACircularConeisa3dimensionalgeometricfigurewithacircularbasewhichtapers
smoothlytoavertex(orapex).Theapexandbaseareindifferentplanes.Note:thereis
alsoanellipticalconethathasanellipseasabase,butthatwillnotbeconsideredhere.

TheBaseisacircle.

TheLateralSurfaceisareaofthefigurebetweenthebaseandtheapex.

TherearenoLateralEdgesinacone.

TheApexoftheconeisthepointatthetopofthecone.

TheSlantHeightofaconeisthelengthalongthelateralsurfacefromtheapextothebase.

TheHeightistheperpendicularlengthbetweenthebaseandtheapex.

ARightConeisoneinwhichtheheightoftheconeintersectsthebaseat
itscenter.

AnObliqueConeisonethatisnotarightcone.Thatis,theapexisnot
aligneddirectlyabovethecenterofthebase.

TheSurfaceAreaofaconeisthesumoftheareaofitslateralsurface
anditsbase.

TheLateralAreaofaconeistheareaofitslateralsurface.

SurfaceAreaandVolumeofaRightCone
SurfaceArea:
LateralSA:

Volume:

where,

SurfaceAreaandVolumeofanObliqueCone
SurfaceArea:
Volume:

where,

Thereisnoeasyformulaforthelateralsurfaceareaofan
obliquecone.

Version 2.6

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November 25, 2014

Geometry
Spheres
Definitions

ASphereisa3dimensionalgeometricfigureinwhichall
pointsareafixeddistancefromapoint.Agoodexampleof
asphereisaball.

Centerthemiddleofthesphere.Allpointsonthesphere
arethesamedistancefromthecenter.

Radiusalinesegmentwithoneendpointatthecenterand
theotherendpointonthesphere.Thetermradiusisalso
usedtorefertothedistancefromthecentertothepoints
onthesphere.

Diameteralinesegmentwithendpointsonthesphere
thatpassesthroughthecenter.

GreatCircletheintersectionofaplaneandasphere
thatpassesthroughthecenter.

Hemispherehalfofasphere.Agreatcircleseparatesa
planeintotwohemispheres.

SecantLinealinethatintersectsthesphereinexactly
twopoints.

TangentLinealinethatintersectsthesphereinexactly
onepoint.

Chordalinesegmentwithendpointsonthespherethatdoesnotpassthroughthecenter.

SurfaceAreaandVolumeofaSphere
SurfaceArea:

Volume:

Version 2.6

where,

Page 74 of 82

November 25, 2014

Geometry
SimilarSolids
SimilarSolidshaveequalratiosofcorrespondinglinearmeasurements(e.g.,edges,radii).So,
alloftheirkeydimensionsareproportional.

Edges,SurfaceAreaandVolumeofSimilarFigures
LetkbethescalefactorrelatingtwosimilargeometricsolidsF1andF2suchthat
Then,forcorrespondingpartsofF1andF2,

and

And

Theseformulasholdtrueforanycorrespondingportionofthe
figures.So,forexample:

Version 2.6

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November 25, 2014

Geometry
SummaryofPerimeterandAreaFormulas2DShapes
Shape

Figure

Perimeter

Area

Kite

Trapezoid

,
,

b ,b
bases
h height

Parallelogram

Rectangle

Rhombus

RegularPolygon

Square

Circle

Ellipse

Version 2.6

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Geometry
SummaryofSurfaceAreaandVolumeFormulas3DShapes
Shape

Figure

SurfaceArea

Volume

Sphere

Right
Cylinder

Cone

Square
Pyramid

Rectangular
Prism

Cube

General
RightPrism

Version 2.6

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November 25, 2014

Geometry Handbook
Index
Page

16
16
23
10
11
65
63
62
64
60,61
76
69
22
22
22
22
22
64
58
64
59
59
22
22
12
73
73
21
12
12
16
55

Version 2.6

Subject

AlternateExteriorAngles
AlternateInteriorAngles
AngleBisectorLengthinaTriangle
Angles
AnglesBasic
AnglesTypes
Area
AreaCompositeFigures
AreaPolygons
AreaQuadrilaterals
AreaRegionofaCircle
AreaTriangle
AreaFormulasSummaryfor2DShapes
Cavalieri'sPrinciple
CentersofTriangles
Centroid
Circumcenter
Incenter
Orthocenter
Centroid
Circles
CirclesArcLengths
CirclesDefinitionsofParts
CirclesRegionAreas
CirclesRelatedAngles
CirclesRelatedSegments
CirclesandTriangles
Circumcenter
ConditionalStatements(Original,Converse,Inverse,Contrapositive)
Cones
ConesDefinitions
ConesSurfaceAreaandVolume
CongruentTriangles
ContrapositiveofaStatement
ConverseofaStatement
CorrespondingAngles
CosecantFunction

Page 78 of 82

November 25, 2014

Geometry Handbook
Index
Page

5355
55
68
70
70
8
9
68
20
66,67
23
60
68
22
12
20
32
6,7
12
12
12
23
68
22
16,17
19
30
31
64
63
62

Version 2.6

Subject

CosineFunction
CotangentFunction
Cube(Hexahedron)
Cylinders
CylindersDefinitions
CylindersSurfaceAreaandVolume
DistanceFormula
DistanceFormula1Dimensionaland2Dimensional)
DistanceFormulainn Dimensions
Dodecahedron
EquilateralTriangle
EulersTheorem
HeightLengthinaTriangle
Heron'sFormulaAreaofaTriangle
Icosahedron
Incenter
InverseofaStatement
IsoscelesTriangle
Kites
Line
Logic
ContrapositiveofaStatement
ConverseofaStatement
InverseofaStatement
MedianLengthinaTriangle
Octahedron
Orthocenter
ParallelLines
ParallelLinesandTransversals
ParallelLinesintheCoordinatePlane
Parallelograms
ParallelogramsCharacteristics
ParallelogramsProofs(SufficientConditions)
Perimeter
PerimeterArcLengthofaCircle
PerimeterPolygons
PerimeterQuadrilaterals

Page 79 of 82

November 25, 2014

Geometry Handbook
Index
Page

60
76
19
6
68
6
25,26
45,46
45,46
27
27
25
26
63
44
43
66
66,67
66
69
69
18
31
15
15
13
13
13
72
72
50

Version 2.6

Subject

PerimeterTriangle
PerimeterFormulasSummaryfor2DShapes
PerpendicularLinesintheCoordinatePlane
Plane
PlatonicSolids
Points
Polygons
PolygonsDefinitions
PolygonsDilation
PolygonsDilationsofPolygons
PolygonsExteriorAngles
PolygonsInteriorAngles
PolygonsNames
PolygonsNumberofDiagonalsinaPolygon
PolygonsPerimeterandArea
PolygonsScaleFactorofSimilarPolygons
PolygonsSimilarity
Polyhedra
PolyhedraDefinitions
PolyhedraEuler'sTheorem
PolyhedraNumberofEdges
Prisms
PrismsDefinitions
PrismsSurfaceAreaandVolume
Proofs
ProofsParallelLines
ProofsParallelograms
ProofsRequirements
ProofsTipsforSuccess
Properties
PropertiesofAdditionandMultiplication
PropertiesofAlgebra
PropertiesofEqualityandCongruence
Pyramids
PyramidsDefinitions
PyramidsSurfaceAreaandVolume
PythagoreanTheorem

Page 80 of 82

November 25, 2014

Geometry Handbook
Index
Page

51
29
28
29
62
42
6,7
14
20
20
55
6,7
4346
4749
75
5355
75
74
74
73
70
69
72
74
71
77
5355
68
41
33
33
35

Version 2.6

Subject

PythagoreanTriples
Quadrilaterals
QuadrilateralsCharacteristics
QuadrilateralsDefinitions
QuadrilateralsFigures
QuadrilateralsPerimeterandArea
RatiosDealingwithUnits
Ray
ReasoningInductivevs.Deductive
RightTriangle
ScaleneTriangle
SecantFunction
Segment
Similarity
SimilarPolygons
SimilarTriangles
SimilaritySolids
SineFunction
SolidsSimilarity
Sphere
SpheresDefinitions
SpheresSurfaceAreaandVolume
SurfaceArea
SurfaceAreaCones
SurfaceAreaCylinders
SurfaceAreaPrisms
SurfaceAreaPyramids
SurfaceAreaSpheres
SurfaceAreaUsingDecomposition
SurfaceAreaFormulasSummaryfor3DShapes
TangentFunction
Tetrahedron
Transformation
TransformationComposition
TransformationDefinitions
TransformationIsometric
TransformationReflection

Page 81 of 82

November 25, 2014

Geometry Handbook
Index
Page

36
37
40
32
22
21
24
47
20
60,61
48
52
49
55
5355
55
55
5355
5355
53
55
53
54
56
56
56
57
73
70
69
72
74
77

Version 2.6

Subject

TransformationRotation
TransformationRotationby90aboutaPoint(x0,y0)
TransformationTranslation
Trapezoids
Triangles
CentersofTriangles
TriangleCongruence(SAS,SSS,ASA,AAS,CPCTC)
TriangleInequalities
TriangleSimilarity(SSS,SAS,AA)
TrianglesGeneral
TrianglesPerimeterandArea
TrianglesProportionTablesforSimilarTriangles
TrianglesSpecial(454590Triangle,306090Triangle)
TrianglesThreeSimilarTriangles
TrigonometricFunctions
CosecantFunction
CosineFunction
CotangentFunction
SecantFunction
SineFunction
TangentFunction
TrigonometricFunctionsDefinition
TrigonometricFunctionsGraphs
TrigonometricFunctionsSpecialAngles
TrigonometricFunctionsValuesinQuadrantsII,III,andIV
Vectors
VectorsDefinitions
VectorsDirection
VectorsMagnitude
VectorsOperations
Volume
VolumeCones
VolumeCylinders
VolumePrisms
VolumePyramids
VolumeSpheres
VolumeFormulasSummaryfor3DShapes

Page 82 of 82

November 25, 2014