Geometry Essentials
A 10-page workbook on angles, polygons, circles, coordinate geometry, triangles, area, surface area, and
volume.
Geometry basics: a point has position, a line extends in two directions, and a line segment has two
endpoints. An angle is formed by two rays with a common endpoint.
Angles are measured in degrees. Acute angles are less than 90°, right angles equal 90°, obtuse angles
are between 90° and 180°, and straight angles equal 180°.
Practice: classify 35°, 90°, 127°, and 180°. Explain the difference between a line, ray, and segment.
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Triangles: the interior angles of every triangle sum to 180°. If two angles are 48° and 67°, the third is 180
− 115 = 65°.
Triangles can be classified by sides: equilateral, isosceles, or scalene. They can also be classified by
angles: acute, right, or obtuse.
Practice: find the missing angle in triangles with angles (52°, 61°, ?), (90°, 34°, ?), and (110°, 25°, ?).
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Quadrilaterals: the interior angles sum to 360°. A rectangle has four right angles; a square has four equal
sides and four right angles; a parallelogram has opposite sides parallel.
Perimeter is the total distance around a figure. For a rectangle, P = 2l + 2w. For a square with side s, P =
4s.
Practice: find the perimeter of a 12-by-7 rectangle and a square with side 9. Explain why opposite sides of
a rectangle have equal lengths.
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Area: rectangle A = lw, triangle A = 1/2 bh, parallelogram A = bh, and trapezoid A = 1/2(b1 + b2)h.
Always identify the base and perpendicular height. A slanted side is not automatically the height.
Practice: calculate the area of a rectangle 15 × 8, a triangle with b = 10 and h = 7, and a trapezoid with
bases 8 and 14 and height 5.
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Circles: radius r is the distance from the center to the circle; diameter d = 2r. Circumference C = 2πr = πd.
Area A = πr².
Use π ≈ 3.14 unless a problem requests an exact answer. Units matter: circumference uses linear units,
while area uses square units.
Practice: find circumference and area for r = 5 cm. Then repeat for d = 12 m.
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Coordinate geometry: the horizontal axis is x and the vertical axis is y. A point is written (x, y). Quadrants
are numbered counterclockwise starting in the upper-right.
Distance horizontally or vertically is found by subtracting coordinates. The midpoint of two points is the
average of their x-coordinates and y-coordinates.
Practice: identify the quadrant of (−3, 5), (4, −2), and (−6, −1). Find the midpoint of (2, 4) and (8, 10).
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Right triangles: the Pythagorean theorem states a² + b² = c², where c is the hypotenuse. If legs are 6 and
8, then c² = 36 + 64 = 100, so c = 10.
The theorem can also find a missing leg. If c = 13 and a = 5, then b² = 169 − 25 = 144, so b = 12.
Practice: find the hypotenuse for legs 9 and 12. Find the missing leg when c = 17 and a = 8.
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Similarity: similar figures have equal corresponding angles and proportional corresponding sides. A scale
factor of 3 means every corresponding length is multiplied by 3.
Area scales by the square of the scale factor. If lengths triple, areas become 9 times as large.
Practice: a triangle with sides 4, 6, 8 is enlarged by a factor of 2. Find its new side lengths and explain how
its area changes.
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Surface area and volume: a rectangular prism has volume V = lwh. Its surface area is 2lw + 2lh + 2wh.
A cylinder has volume V = πr²h. Think of volume as the amount of three-dimensional space inside an
object.
Practice: find the volume of a 4 × 5 × 9 prism. Then find the volume of a cylinder with r = 3 and h = 10
using π ≈ 3.14.
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Geometry review: 1) Find a triangle's missing angle when the other angles are 42° and 73°. 2) Find the
area of a 14 × 11 rectangle. 3) Find the circumference of a circle with r = 7.
4) Find the hypotenuse of a right triangle with legs 5 and 12. 5) Find the midpoint of (−2, 4) and (6, −8). 6)
Find the volume of a prism 3 × 7 × 12.
Challenge: A rectangular garden is 20 m by 14 m. A circular fountain of radius 3 m is placed inside it. Find
the garden area, fountain area, and remaining area using π ≈ 3.14.
Study tip: draw a diagram, label known measurements, select a formula, substitute carefully, and check
that the units match the quantity being calculated.