Classifying 2D shapes

Classifying Triangles

Triangles are classified according to their sides, or their angles, or their sides and angles.
Sides
An equilateral triangle has all sides equal in length.
An isosceles triangle has two sides equal in length.
A scalene triangle has no sides equal in length.

Angles
An acute-angled triangle has all three angles acute.
An obtuse-angled triangle has one obtuse angle.
A right-angled triangle has one right angle.

Q1.

Q2.

Q3.

Q4.
Q5.Copy and complete this table.

Picture Name of triangle Definition

Equilateral triangle

One angle is greater than 90˚

Scalene triangle

All angles are less than 90˚

 Quadrilaterals
A quadrilateral is any closed two dimensional shape with four straight sides. All quadrilaterals can be
subdivided into two major groups: parallelograms and other quadrilaterals. Parallelograms are quadrilaterals
with two pairs of opposite sides being parallel.

Parallelograms Opposite sides are parallel

Square
All sides are equal in length. All angles are 90˚

Opposite sides are equal in length.

Rectangle
Adjacent sides are perpendicular.
All angles are the same and equal 90°.

All sides are equal in length.

Rhombus Opposite angles are equal in size.

Parallelogram
Opposite sides are equal in length.
Opposite angles are equal in size.

Other quadrilaterals Opposite sides not all parallel

Trapezium
One pair of opposite sides is parallel.

Two pairs of adjacent (next to each other) sides are

equal in length.
Kite
One pair of opposite angles (the ones that are
between the sides of unequal
length) are equal.

This shape does not have any special

Irregular quadrilateral
properties.
Q1. Name the following quadrilaterals, giving reasons for your answers.

Q2.The diagram at right, ABCD, is a rectangle. State whether each of the following is true or false.

a) AB || CD
b) AD || BA
c) AB ⊥ BC
d) BC ⊥ AD

Q3. Use your knowledge of the properties of quadrilaterals to find the unknown angles and lengths in each of
these diagrams.

Q4. Name all the quadrilaterals that have:

a) 2 different pairs of sides of equal length

b) 2 different pairs of opposite angles that are equal in size

c) 2 different pairs of parallel lines

d) only 1 pair of parallel lines

e) only 1 pair of opposite angles that are equal in size.

Q5. For each of the following, state the name of the quadrilateral that best matches the clues.
a) I am a parallelogram with all sides of equal length. What am I?
b) I have two pairs of equal sides. These sides are not opposite. What am I?
c) I am a rhombus with 90-degree angles. What am I?

Q6. Draw 4 equilateral triangles with side lengths 4 cm and cut them out.
a) Use 2 of these triangles to make a rhombus. Draw your solution.
b) Use 3 of these triangles to make a trapezium. Draw your solution.
c) Use all 4 triangles to make a parallelogram. Draw your solution.
Q7. Copy and cut out the set of shapes shown at right. Arrange the shapes to form a square. Draw your solution.

Polygons
 A polygon is any closed shape with three or more sides, each of which is a straight line.
 A polygon with equal sides and angles is called a regular polygon.
 A polygon with an angle greater than 180º is called a convex polygon.
Naming Polygons
Number of Name
sides
3 Triangle
4 Quadrilateral
5 Pentagon
6 Hexagon
7 Heptagon
8 Octagon
9 Nonagon
10 Decagon
11 Undecagon
12 Dodecagon

Q1. Name the following polygons. State if the polygon is regular. State which of the polygons are convex?
 Transformations

Translation- If a shape is moved from one position to another, without turning, flipping over or changing size,
then we can say the shape has been translated.
Example1. For each of the following shapes, specify the translation that took place.

a) Translation: b)

4 units right, 2 units up 1 unit down, 3 units left

Q1. For each of the following shapes, specify the translation that took place.

Q2. For each of the following shapes, show the final position after the specified translations.
Q3.

Reflections - A reflection is an exact image of an object, as seen in a mirror. A reflection is as far behind the
mirror as the object is in front of it.

Example: The diagram shows trapezium ABCD and its reflection in the line PQ.
a) What point is the image of vertex:
i) A?

ii) B?

iii) C?

iv) D?

b) i) Join each vertex to its image. What angle does each of these joining lines make with PQ?
ii) Complete this statement:
‘The line joining each point and its image makes a ______ angle with the line of reflection.’
c) i) Measure the distance of each vertex and its image from PQ.
ii) Complete this statement:
‘Every point and its image are the ______ distance from the line of reflection.’
d) What transformation is needed to move the image back to its original position?
Example2. Draw reflections of each of the following objects using the dotted line as the ‘mirror line’.

a) b)

Q1. Draw reflections of each of the following objects in the dotted line.

a) b)

Q2. Compare each shape in question 1. with its image.

a) Are matching sides the same length?
b) Are matching angles the same size?
c) Are the areas the same?
Rotations - An object turning about a certain point is called a rotation.

Example3.Specify the rotation that has taken place in the following figure.(Give two possible answers.)

Anticlockwise, quarter turn or Clockwise, three-quarter turn

Q2. Specify the rotation that has taken place in each of the following figures.

Q3. Show the final position of each of the following shapes after a half-turn rotation about the dot.
a) b) c)
Q4.Show the image of the shape after each of the following rotations.

a) b)

c)

Line symmetry
The shape can be divided into two halves that are the exact reflection of each other. The line of reflection is
called the axis (or line) of symmetry. Shapes can have more than one axis of symmetry.
Example1.

Q1.Copy the following shapes and draw all the axes of symmetry.

Example2. Complete this shape, given one half of the shape and its axis of symmetry.
Q2.

Q3.

Rotational Symmetry
 There are some shapes that do not have line symmetry but still appear to have a certain balance.
  Shape 1 and Shape 2 do not have line symmetry but have a certain balance and regularity when rotated.
This is called rotational symmetry.
 The point about which the shape is turned is called the centre of symmetry.
 The order of rotational symmetry is the number of times a shape will rotate onto itself in completing
one full revolution.
 Shape 1 has rotational symmetry of order 2, since the shape rotated onto itself twice in one revolution.
 Shape 2 has rotational symmetry of order 4, since the shape rotated onto itself 4 times in one revolution.
 Shape 3 rotated onto itself only once in one revolution. It is said to have no rotational symmetry.

Example1. Which of the following shapes have rotational symmetry? For those that do, state the order of
symmetry and mark the centre of symmetry.

Exercise

Q1. Consider the star drawn.

a) How many times can this shape rotate onto itself in one complete turn?
b) What is the order of rotational symmetry?
c) Sketch the star and mark the centre of symmetry.

Q2. Which of the following shapes have rotational symmetry? For those that do, state the order of symmetry,
draw a sketch and mark the centre of symmetry.
Q3. A shape is said to have point symmetry if it rotates onto itself when rotated through half a complete
revolution (180°). Which of the shapes in question 2 have point symmetry?

Q4. Draw a shape that has rotational symmetry but not point symmetry.

Shape Number of axis of symmetry Order of rotational symmetry

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
o.
p.
q.
r
s.
t.
Q5. Investigate the following quadrilaterals for line and rotational symmetry and complete the table.
Q6. Investigate the following shapes for both line and rotational symmetry, and complete the following table.(If
no rotational symmetry, write ‘None’.)

Enlargement (dilation)
As mentioned in the section on similarity, enlargement (or dilation) is a transformation that results in a figure
becoming larger or smaller. As rotation occurs about the centre of rotation, enlargement also happens about a
fixed point, called the centre of enlargement.
The diagram on the right shows ΔABC that is to be enlarged and point Q, the centre of enlargement.
If ΔABC is to be enlarged to ΔA′B′C′ the corresponding vertices of the image and object will be on a straight
line from the centre of enlargement, Q. If for instance, it is required that the image is to be two times the size of
the object, the vertices of ΔA′B′C′ will be twice as far from Q as the corresponding vertices of ΔABC are from
Q, as shown below.

Similarly, if ΔABC is to be enlarged so that the image is 3

times the size of the
object, the scale factor for enlargement is 3 and QA′ = 3QA, QB
′ = 3QB and
QC′ = 3QC, as shown below.

Q1.Enlarge each of the following figures by the given scale factor (SF) and the centre of enlargement marked
O. Show the image of each figure.

a) b)

Parts of a circle
Name Diagram Definition
The perimeter of a circle

Circumference

Part of the circumference

Arc
 Half of a full circle

Semicircle

The point inside the circle

which is equidistant from
all points on the circle
Centre (Equidistant means ‘equal
distance’.)

An interval drawn from

the centre of the circle to
the
Radius circumference

An interval passing
through the centre that
divides the
Diameter circle in half (Diameter = 2
× radius)

An area cut off by two

radii
Sector

An interval joining two

points on the
circumference,
Chord but not passing through
the centre
 A line on the exterior of
the circle that touches the
circumference at one
Tangent point

The smaller of the two

regions inside a circle
bounded
by the circle and a chord
Minor Segment

The larger of the two

regions inside a circle
bounded
by the circle and a chord
Major Segment

1 Name the features shown in purple for each of these circles.

2 What features of circles can be seen in the examples below?

3 a) Name the feature shown by these intervals.

i) AB
ii) AD
iii) EF
iv) AC
v) CD
vi) DB
b) Which feature is represented by the shaded region.
Equilateral triangles