The Various Shapes That A Polygon Has And Its History!

Mukesh Yadav
3 min readFeb 16, 2022

Polygon — this six letter word has a lot to offer! When we are about to extract an in — depth understanding of polygons, let’s begin with imbibing this simple fact that there’s lot more than seeing it as just a figure constructed completely of line segments. So, what’s the wait for? Let’s dive into this article and build a clear understanding of Polygons. Hold on, that’s not it! This article also aims at simultaneous strengthening of concepts and clarification of doubts.

Polygon : Definition

First things first, cutting the absolute non — essentials, let’s begin with talking about what a polygon is. In geometry, we define polygon as a two — dimensional figure with a fixed number of edges. These edges are the sides of the figure which are connected from joint to joint or end to end. Further, it’s this meeting point of line segments, which we address as a vertex or a corner. Henceforth, that’s how an angle is achieved.

Often at times, one can consider all two dimensional figures as polygons but it’s not the case. All polygons are two — dimensional figures, but not the vice versa is true. Before moving ahead know that the word polygon is comprised of two words meaning poly (many) and gon (sides).

Names of Polygons

Polygons get their names from the prefixes of ancient Greek numerals. Many names of ordinary objects and concepts begin with the Greek number prefix. These can be helpful in remembering how many sides a polygon has on occasion. The number of sides, e.g., pentagon, dodecagon, by combining a Greek-derived numeral prefix with the suffix -gon. The exceptions are the triangle, quadrilateral, and nonagon.

Mathematicians frequently utilize number notation, such as 17-gon and 257-gon, in addition to decagons (10-sided) and dodecagons (12-sided).

Side counts that are easily articulated in verbal form (e.g., 20 and 30) or utilized by non-mathematicians are exceptions. Some unique polygons have their own names, such as the regular star pentagon, which is also called the pentagram.

Consider the following scenario:

An octagon has eight sides, just like an octopus.

A decagon has ten sides; hence a decade is ten years.

The contemporary pentathlon consists of five events, similar to the five sides of a pentagon.

Seven events make up an Olympic heptathlon, much as a heptagon has seven sides.

The word ‘poly-‘ simply means ‘many,’ therefore a polygon is a form having numerous sides, similar to how ‘polygamy’ refers to several wives.

For the purpose of creating higher-level names, Combine the prefixes as follows to create the name of a polygon with more than 20 but less than 100 edges. Although not all sources use the name “kai,” it was used by Kepler and supported by John H.

Also, Read The CGPA Grading System and All You Need To Know About It

Types of Polygon Angles

There are two sorts of angles in a polygon:

  1. Interior angles — Angles created at the vertices of a polygon’s vertices.
  2. Exterior angles — Angles are created when a polygon’s side is extended outside the polygon. It’s next to (to the side of) the internal angle.

Originally posted on shapes of polygon!

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