A tutorial to explore the formulas and other properties of regular polygons, inscribed and circumscribed circles. An html 5 applet may also used for an interactive tutorial. There is also a calculator for regular polygons.
Formulas For Areas of Regular PolygonsRegular polygons have all sides equal and all angles equal. Below is an example of a 5 sided regular polygon also called a pentagon.where x is the side of the pentagon, r is the radius of the inscribed circle and R is the radius of the circumscribed circle.
Let us develop formulas to find the area of an n sided regular polygons as a function of x, r and R. We shall follow the following route: Find the area of one triangle, such as triangle BOC, and multiply it by n ,the number of sides of the polygon, to find the total area of the polygon.
Relationship between x, r and R.
and
Formula 1The area of triangle BOC = (1/2) x r= (1/2) n x r Formula 2Another possible formula for the area of triangle BOC in terms of R isArea of triangle BOC = (1/2) sin ( t ) R 2 = (1/2) R 2 sin (360o / n) = (1/2) n R 2 sin (360o / n) Formula 3Another formula may be obtained if r found above is substituted in formula 1.= (1/2) n x [ (x / 2) cot (180o / n) ] = (1 / 4) n x2 cot (180o / n)
Formula 4Another formula may be obtained if x in r = (x / 2) cot (180o / n) is substituted in formula 1.= (1/2) n [ 2 r tan (180o / n) ] r = n r2 tan (180o / n)
names of polygons according to the number of sides
1 - Press the button "draw" to start. 2 - In this applet, the radius of the circumscribed circle is constant. The number n of the sides of the regular polygon may be changed using the slider or by typing a positive integer greater than 3. 4 - When n increases, what happens to the three areas: that of the circumscribed circle, the polygon and the inscribed circle? See problem 4 in polygons problems. More References and Links GeometryGeometry Tutorials, Problems and Interactive Applets.
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