Back to homeMathematics · Secondary Year 1 · Change subject
Start for free
Secondary 1 · Mathematics
2D shapes · Shapes

Elements of the Plane

The lines on a soccer field, the streets of your neighborhood on a map, the corner of a window... all of these are drawn with the most basic pieces of geometry: points, lines, and angles. Before classifying triangles or calculating areas, you need to know these pieces well. By the end of the page you will be able to say where to place an antenna so that it is the same distance from two friends.

Point, line, ray, and segment

From a line you can cut smaller pieces:

Visual comparison between a line with no endpoints, a ray with an endpoint, and a segment bounded by endpoints A and B. line(no beginning or end) ray(one endpoint, continues in one direction) endpoint segment(two endpoints, has a measurable length) AB

Your school's playground, seen from above, is a piece of a plane: a surface that extends in all directions and contains all the points, lines, and segments you draw on it.

Measuring segments: millimeters, centimeters, and decimeters

To add or compare lengths, they must all be in the same unit. The equivalences you need are:

$$10\ \text{mm} = 1\ \text{cm} \qquad 10\ \text{cm} = 1\ \text{dm}$$

And therefore $1\ \text{dm} = 100\ \text{mm}$. To convert to a larger unit you divide; to convert to a smaller unit you multiply.

Practice★☆☆Not started
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.

Figure A Figure B Origin Figure C A B
Solve
Practice★☆☆Not started
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 ($cm$).

  • Segment $AB = 40$ $mm$

  • Segment $CD = 2.5$ $cm$

  • Segment $EF = 0.5$ $dm$

Remember to convert all measurements to the same unit before adding.

Solve
Practice★★☆Not started
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:

  1. The path that starts at the shelter and ends at the waterfall.

  2. The path that starts at the shelter and continues indefinitely passing through the waterfall and the peak.

  3. The theoretical line containing the shelter, the waterfall and the peak, extending endlessly in both directions.

A B C Shelter Waterfall Peak 1. Section: Shelter to Waterfall 2. Section: Shelter towards Peak (endless) 3. Theoretical line (infinite in both directions)
Solve

Positions of two lines

Two streets in your neighborhood either cross at some point or never cross.

Relative positions of two lines in the plane: parallel lines that never meet, intersecting lines that meet at a point, and perpendicular lines that form right angles. parallel intersecting perpendicular

If $r \perp s$ and $t \parallel r$, then $t$ is also perpendicular to $s$: a line parallel to $r$ "inherits" the same turn with respect to $s$.

Practice★☆☆Not started
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?

d d a b c P Q
Solve
Practice★★☆Not started
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:

  • 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?

  • If a car drives along street $s$ and wants to turn into street $t$, through what angle (in degrees) will it have to turn?

r || t s r t α=?
Solve

The angle: parts and measure

Parts of an angle with vertex at O, two sides formed by rays, and the opening marked with the Greek letter alpha. O (vertex) side side α

An angle is named with the vertex in the middle, $\angle AOB$, or with a Greek letter ($\alpha$, $\beta$...). To measure it you use a protractor: the center goes on the vertex and the $0^\circ$ mark on one of the sides.

According to its opening, an angle is:

Type Measure
Acute less than $90^\circ$
Right exactly $90^\circ$
Obtuse greater than $90^\circ$ and less than $180^\circ$
Straight exactly $180^\circ$

Parts of a polygon

A polygon is a closed figure made of segments. The simplest one is the triangle, and in it you can see three parts:

Triangle ABC with its three vertices, its three sides, and its three interior angles marked. A (vertex) B (vertex) C (vertex) side AB side AC side BC α β γ
  • The vertices are the points where the sides meet.

  • The sides are the segments that form the figure.

  • The interior angles are the ones that open toward the inside of the figure, one at each vertex.

A triangle has $3$ vertices, $3$ sides, and $3$ interior angles. In any polygon, the three numbers are equal to each other.

A clock is a good model of angles: a full turn is $360^\circ$, and the minute hand travels $6^\circ$ each minute ($360^\circ \div 60$). At 3:00 the hands form a right angle; at 6:00, a straight angle. The hour hand moves $0.5^\circ$ per minute ($30^\circ$ per hour divided by 60 minutes).

Practice★☆☆Not started
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 $90^\circ$.

  • Angle $A = 45^\circ$

  • Angle $B = 120^\circ$

  • Angle $C = 90^\circ$

  • Angle $D = 10^\circ$

Angle A 45° Angle B 120° Angle C 90° Angle D 10°
Solve
Practice★☆☆Not started
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.

  1. a) What type of angle do the hands form when it is 3:00 o'clock?
  2. b) What about when it is 6:00 o'clock?
  3. c) What angle (in degrees) does the minute hand turn through in 15 minutes?
a) 3:00 b) 6:00 ?° c) 15 min
Solve
Practice★☆☆Not started
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.

Solve
Practice★★☆Not started
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.

Analog clock showing 15:00, with the hour hand pointing to 3 and the minute hand pointing to 1212369

Answer:

  1. a) What type of angle do the two hands form at $15:00$?
  1. 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?
  1. 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.
Solve
Practice★★★Not started
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 $0.5^\circ$).

12 3 6 9 10 4 10° α=?
Solve

Degrees, minutes, and seconds

The full turn is divided into $360$ equal parts called degrees ($^\circ$). When a degree is not precise enough, it is divided like the hour into minutes and seconds:

Diagram of the sexagesimal system showing the relationship between one degree, sixty minutes, and three thousand six hundred seconds. 1°1 degree × 60 60'60 minutes × 60 3,600''60 · 60 seconds

Dividing an angle by a number

To divide, you share out the degrees first; what is left over is converted to minutes, and then to seconds.

Practice★★☆Not started
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.

Solve
Practice★★☆Not started
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)?

Solve

Complementary and supplementary angles

Two complementary angles of 55° and 35° that add up to 90°, and two supplementary angles of 120° and 60° that add up to 180°. 55°35° complementary:55° + 35° = 90° 120°60° supplementary:120° + 60° = 180°

To find the missing one you subtract: the complement of $\alpha$ is $90^\circ - \alpha$ and the supplement is $180^\circ - \alpha$.

Practice★☆☆Not started
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:

  1. a) The complement of an angle of $35^\circ$.
  2. b) The supplement of an angle of $110^\circ$.
Solve
Practice★★☆Not started
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.

x 3x x + 3x = 180°
Solve
Practice★★★Not started
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.

Solve

Vertical angles and the angle bisector

When two lines cross, four angles are formed. The ones that face each other, without touching, are vertical angles and they measure the same. The ones that are next to each other are supplementary.

Two intersecting lines that cross at a common vertex: vertical angles are equal in pairs. αα ββ

The angle bisector is the ray that starts at the vertex and divides the angle into two equal angles.

Practice★☆☆Not started
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?

γ = ? α = 40º β = ? δ = ? α + β = 180º α = γ | β = δ
Solve
Practice★★☆Not started
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 $135^\circ$.

  • Calculate the measure of each of the new angles after drawing the bisector.

  • 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.

Solve
Practice★★★Not started
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.

O B A C D 150° DOB Supplementary 180° Bisector 1 Bisector 2

You can do it on paper and send a photo with your answer.

Solve
Practice★★★Not started
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.

  1. a) What is the exact measure of the central angle of each slice in degrees, minutes and seconds?
  2. 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?
Solve

Parallel lines cut by a transversal

Two parallel streets, crossed by an avenue. What relationship is there between the angles that are formed?

When a line $t$ (the transversal) cuts two parallel lines $r$ and $s$, eight angles are formed, four at each crossing.

Two parallel lines r and s cut by a transversal t; the angles marked with alpha are equal to each other and the ones marked with beta are too. rst α β β α α β β α

In total there are only two different measures: an angle $\alpha$ and its supplement $180^\circ - \alpha$.

Practice★★★Not started
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 $3x - 10^\circ$.

  1. a) Find the value of $x$.
  2. b) Calculate the measure of all eight angles formed at the intersection.
Solve

Points at the same distance: perpendicular bisector

Ximena and Mateo want to put a Wi-Fi repeater antenna in the school courtyard, at the same distance from both of them. Where?

Segment AB with its perpendicular bisector: a line perpendicular to it that passes through the midpoint M. AB M perpendicular bisector

With a straightedge and compass: open the compass more than half of $\overline{AB}$, draw an arc from $A$ and an equal one from $B$; the two points where the arcs cross determine the perpendicular bisector. If $A$ and $B$ are $12$ m apart, the antenna at the midpoint is $6$ m from each; at any other point on the perpendicular bisector it is more than $6$ m away.

If the antenna must also be at the same distance from two roads that form an angle, you draw the angle bisector of that angle. The point that meets both conditions is where the angle bisector and the perpendicular bisector cross.

Practice★★☆Not started
Two friends, Ana and Diego, want to install a Wi-Fi repeater antenna in the school playground that is exactly at the same distance from both of them. If Ana is at point…

Two friends, Ana and Diego, want to install a Wi-Fi repeater antenna in the school playground that is exactly at the same distance from both of them. If Ana is at point $A$ and Diego is at point $B$:

  1. What is the name of the imaginary line where they could place the antenna?

  2. If the distance between Ana and Diego is $12$ meters, what is the minimum distance from each of them that the antenna will be?

  3. Draw a diagram showing points $A$ and $B$, the line segment joining them, and the line where they must place the antenna.

Solve
Practice★★★Not started
Three towns, Atlixco ($A$), Bernal ($B$), and Comala ($C$), are situated such that the angle with vertex at $A$ formed by the roads going to $B$ and $C$ measures…

Three towns, Atlixco ($A$), Bernal ($B$), and Comala ($C$), are situated 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 situated 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.

Solve

Summary

Go back to the beginning: the antenna at an equal distance from Ximena and Mateo goes on the perpendicular bisector of $\overline{AB}$.

See all the exercises in this section