Elements of the Plane
The lines on a basketball court, the streets of the Zona Colonial on a map, the corner of a window, the hands of a clock... all of these are drawn with the most basic pieces of geometry: points, lines, and angles. One question will guide us: if you want to put a cell tower at the same distance from two highways and from two towns, which lines do you have to draw? By the end of this page you will be able to answer it.
Point, line, ray, and segment
Smaller pieces can be cut from a line:
The school yard, seen from above, is a piece of the plane: a surface that extends in all directions and contains all the points, lines, and segments you draw on it.
Look at the following image and identify which of the drawn elements corresponds to a line, which to a ray, and which to a line segment. Briefly explain the difference…
Look at the following image and identify which of the drawn elements corresponds to a line, which to a ray, and which to a line segment. Briefly explain the difference between them by looking at their endpoints.
Use a ruler to measure the following line segments and calculate the total sum of their lengths in centimeters ($cm$). Segment $AB = 40$ $mm$ Segment $CD = 2.5$ $cm$…
Use a ruler to measure the following line segments and calculate the total sum of their lengths in centimeters ($cm$).
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Segment $AB = 40$ $mm$
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Segment $CD = 2.5$ $cm$
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Segment $EF = 0.5$ $dm$
Remember to convert all measurements to the same unit before adding.
On a hiking map, a straight trail connects point $A$ (a shelter) to point $B$ (a waterfall). If we extend the trail beyond the waterfall towards the mountain peak (point…
On a hiking map, a straight trail connects point $A$ (a shelter) to point $B$ (a waterfall). If we extend the trail beyond the waterfall towards the mountain peak (point $C$), identify which geometric concept each of the following sections represents:
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The path that starts at the shelter and ends at the waterfall.
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The path that starts at the shelter and continues indefinitely passing through the waterfall and the peak.
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The theoretical line containing the shelter, the waterfall and the peak, extending endlessly in both directions.
Positions of two lines
Two streets in your neighborhood either cross at some point or never cross at all. And if they cross, they can do so at a right-angle corner or at a slanted intersection.
Example: on a map, an avenue and a street that cross it at a right-angle corner are perpendicular; if the street crosses it diagonally, they are oblique.
On the map of your neighbourhood, two streets can cross or be parallel. Look at the diagram of lines $a$, $b$, and $c$. Indicate which pair of lines are parallel and…
On the map of your neighbourhood, two streets can cross or be parallel. Look at the diagram of lines $a$, $b$, and $c$. Indicate which pair of lines are parallel and which pair are intersecting. What is the orange point where two of them intersect called?
An architect is designing a new residential area. They have drawn three streets represented by the lines $r$, $s$ and $t$. Look at the plan and answer with reasoning: If…
An architect is designing a new residential area. They have drawn three streets represented by the lines $r$, $s$ and $t$. Look at the plan and answer with reasoning:
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If street $r$ is perpendicular to street $s$, and street $t$ is parallel to street $r$, how are streets $s$ and $t$ related to each other?
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If a car drives along street $s$ and wants to turn into street $t$, through what angle (in degrees) will it have to turn?
The angle: elements and measure
An angle is named with the vertex in the middle: $\widehat{AOB}$ (or $\angle AOB$), or with a Greek letter ($\alpha$, $\beta$...). To measure how wide it opens, you use a protractor, placing its center on the vertex and its $0^\circ$ mark on one of the sides.
In a polygon, for example a triangle, the vertices are the corners, the sides are the segments between corners, and the interior angles are the openings inside each corner. A triangle has $3$ vertices, $3$ sides, and $3$ interior angles.
Draw a three-sided polygon (a triangle) and label its main elements. You must indicate where the vertices, the sides and the interior angles are. How many of each does a…
Draw a three-sided polygon (a triangle) and label its main elements. You must indicate where the vertices, the sides and the interior angles are. How many of each does a triangle have?
You can do it on paper and send a photo with your answer.
Types of angles
According to their opening, angles are classified as follows:
Classify the following angles according to their size as acute, right, or obtuse. To help you, remember that a right angle measures exactly $90^\circ$. Angle…
Classify the following angles according to their size as acute, right, or obtuse. To help you, remember that a right angle measures exactly $90^\circ$.
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Angle $A = 45^\circ$
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Angle $B = 120^\circ$
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Angle $C = 90^\circ$
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Angle $D = 10^\circ$
Degrees, minutes, and seconds
The full turn is divided into $360$ equal parts called degrees ($^\circ$). But sometimes a degree is not precise enough, so it is divided in turn, just as the hour is divided into minutes and seconds:
To divide, first split the degrees; what is left over is converted to minutes, and what is left over from the minutes is converted to seconds.
A traffic radar rotates on its axis sweeping a total angle of $145^\circ$ $30'$. If the radar has already rotated $82^\circ$ $45' $ $20''$, how much more does it need to…
A traffic radar rotates on its axis sweeping a total angle of $145^\circ$ $30'$. If the radar has already rotated $82^\circ$ $45' $ $20''$, how much more does it need to rotate to complete its full sweep? Express the result in degrees, minutes and seconds.
In the design of a skateboard ramp, three interior angles have been calculated that must add up to a straight angle so that the structure is stable. If the first two…
In the design of a skateboard ramp, three interior angles have been calculated that must add up to a straight angle so that the structure is stable. If the first two angles measure $\hat{A} = 48^\circ$ $25'$ and $\hat{B} = 72^\circ$ $50'$, calculate the measure of the third angle $\hat{C}$. What type of angle is it according to its turn (acute, right or obtuse)?
A pizzeria wants to divide a circular pizza of $30 \text{ cm}$ diameter into 7 equal slices. a) What is the exact measure of the central angle of each slice in degrees,…
A pizzeria wants to divide a circular pizza of $30 \text{ cm}$ diameter into 7 equal slices.
- a) What is the exact measure of the central angle of each slice in degrees, minutes and seconds?
- b) If by mistake the first cut is made at $52^\circ$, how many extra minutes and seconds does that slice have compared to the correct measure?
Complementary and supplementary angles
To find the complement of an angle, subtract it from $90^\circ$; for the supplement, from $180^\circ$.
Two angles are complementary if their sum is $90^\circ$ and supplementary if their sum is $180^\circ$. Calculate the missing angle in each case: a) The complement of an…
Two angles are complementary if their sum is $90^\circ$ and supplementary if their sum is $180^\circ$. Calculate the missing angle in each case:
- a) The complement of an angle of $35^\circ$.
- b) The supplement of an angle of $110^\circ$.
Two angles are supplementary. If one of them measures three times as much as the other, what is the measure of each of the angles? Draw a diagram to help you visualise…
Two angles are supplementary. If one of them measures three times as much as the other, what is the measure of each of the angles? Draw a diagram to help you visualise the situation.
In the design of a metal part, two angles are supplementary. If one of them is three times the other minus $20^\circ$, how much does each angle measure? Set out a…
In the design of a metal part, two angles are supplementary. If one of them is three times the other minus $20^\circ$, how much does each angle measure? Set out a logical or mathematical strategy to find their measures in degrees, minutes and seconds.
Vertical angles and angle bisector
When two lines cross, four angles are formed. The ones facing each other, not touching, are vertical angles and have the same measure. The ones next to each other add up to $180^\circ$.
The angle bisector of an angle is the ray that leaves the vertex and divides it into two equal angles.
When two lines intersect, vertically opposite angles are equal. In the following drawing, if we know that the orange angle $\hat{\alpha}$ measures $40^\circ$, how much…
When two lines intersect, vertically opposite angles are equal. In the following drawing, if we know that the orange angle $\hat{\alpha}$ measures $40^\circ$, how much will angles $\hat{\beta}$, $\hat{\gamma}$, and $\hat{\delta}$ measure?
A gardener wants to divide a flowerbed shaped like a circular sector into two equal sectors. To do this, he needs to draw the angle bisector of the central angle formed…
A gardener wants to divide a flowerbed shaped like a circular sector into two equal sectors. To do this, he needs to draw the angle bisector of the central angle formed by the original flowerbed, which measures $135^\circ$.
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Calculate the measure of each of the new angles after drawing the bisector.
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If the gardener makes a mistake and draws a line that leaves an angle of $60^\circ$ $40'$, how many degrees, minutes, and seconds of difference are there compared to the correct bisector?
You can do it on paper and send a photo with your answer.
Draw an obtuse angle $\widehat{AOB} = 150^\circ$. Draw its bisector $OC$. Afterwards, draw the bisector $OD$ of angle $\widehat{AOC}$. Without using a protractor for the…
Draw an obtuse angle $\widehat{AOB} = 150^\circ$. Draw its bisector $OC$. Afterwards, draw the bisector $OD$ of angle $\widehat{AOC}$. Without using a protractor for the final measurement, calculate arithmetically the measure of the supplementary angle of angle $\widehat{DOB}$. Show all the steps of the calculation in the sexagesimal system.
You can do it on paper and send a photo with your answer.
Angles on a clock
The hands of a clock form angles that you can calculate. The clock face makes one full turn ($360^\circ$) and has $12$ hours.
The hands of a clock form different angles throughout the day. a) What type of angle do the hands form when it is 3:00 o'clock? b) What about when it is 6:00 o'clock? c)…
The hands of a clock form different angles throughout the day.
- a) What type of angle do the hands form when it is 3:00 o'clock?
- b) What about when it is 6:00 o'clock?
- c) What angle (in degrees) does the minute hand turn through in 15 minutes?
Observe the hands of an analog clock when it shows exactly $15:00$ (three o'clock). The figure shows that clock: the short hand is the hour hand and the long one is the…
Observe the hands of an analog clock when it shows exactly $15:00$ (three o'clock). The figure shows that clock: the short hand is the hour hand and the long one is the minute hand.
Answer:
- a) What type of angle do the two hands form at $15:00$?
- b) If the clock moves forward to $15:10$, the minute hand has turned through a certain angle. Knowing that each minute corresponds to a $6^\circ$ turn of the minute hand, what angle has the minute hand covered?
- c) At $15:10$, is the angle formed by the two hands greater or smaller than the one they formed at $15:00$? Keep in mind that the hour hand also moves a little: it turns $0.5^\circ$ every minute.
Calculate exactly the smaller angle formed by the hands of an analogue clock when it shows $10:20$ in the morning. Bear in mind that the hour hand moves proportionally…
Calculate exactly the smaller angle formed by the hands of an analogue clock when it shows $10:20$ in the morning. Bear in mind that the hour hand moves proportionally to the movement of the minute hand. (Hint: every minute, the hour hand moves $0.5^\circ$).
Perpendicular bisector: points at equal distance
If Yaritza and Wilkin want to put a Wi-Fi antenna at the same distance from both of them, where do they place it?
Two friends, Ana and Carlos, want to install a Wi-Fi repeater antenna in the schoolyard that is exactly at the same distance from both of them. If Ana is at point $A$…
Two friends, Ana and Carlos, want to install a Wi-Fi repeater antenna in the schoolyard that is exactly at the same distance from both of them. If Ana is at point $A$ and Carlos is at point $B$:
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What is the name of the imaginary line where they could place the antenna?
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If the distance between Ana and Carlos is $12$ meters, what is the minimum distance from each of them that the antenna will be?
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Draw a diagram showing points $A$ and $B$, the line segment joining them, and the line where they must place the antenna.
Three towns, Azua ($A$), Baní ($B$), and Cotuí ($C$), are located such that the angle with vertex at $A$ formed by the roads going to $B$ and $C$ measures…
Three towns, Azua ($A$), Baní ($B$), and Cotuí ($C$), are located such that the angle with vertex at $A$ formed by the roads going to $B$ and $C$ measures $74^\circ \ 12'$. A cell phone tower is to be built that is exactly the same distance from road $AB$ as from road $AC$. In addition, the tower must be located at the same distance from towns $B$ and $C$. Describe with reasoning which geometric construction lines (special lines) you must draw to find the exact location of the tower and state the name of their point of intersection.
Angles between parallel lines and a transversal
When a line $t$ crosses two parallel lines $r$ and $s$, eight angles are formed, but there are only two different measures.
Two parallel lines, $r$ and $s$, are cut by a transversal $t$. It is known that two alternate interior angles are given by the measures $2x + 15^\circ$ and…
Two parallel lines, $r$ and $s$, are cut by a transversal $t$. It is known that two alternate interior angles are given by the measures $2x + 15^\circ$ and $3x - 10^\circ$.
- a) Find the value of $x$.
- b) Calculate the measure of all eight angles formed at the intersection.
Go back to the beginning: for the cell tower that had to be at equal distance from two highways and two towns, you draw the angle bisector of the angle formed by the highways and the perpendicular bisector of the segment joining the towns; the tower goes where they meet.