Unit 7: LINES AND ANGLES

7.1.- BASIC TERMS IN GEOMETRY

Geometry is the branch of Mathematics that deals with the properties,
measurement, and relationships of points, lines, angles, surfaces and solids.

Point
A point is a “dot” on a piece of paper. We identify this point with a number or
letter. A point has no length or width, it just specifies an exact location.

Example: The following is a diagram of points A, B and C.

Line
A line is a “straight” line that we might draw with a ruler on a piece of paper. A
line extends forever in both directions. We write the name of a line passing
through two different points A and B as “line AB”.

Example: The following is a diagram of two lines: line AB and line HG.

The arrows signify that the lines drawn

extend indefinitely in each direction.

Ray
A ray is a “straight” line that begins at a certain point and extends forever in
one direction. The point where the ray begins is known as its endpoint. We write
the name of a ray with endpoint A and passing through a point B as “ray AB”.

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Example: The following is a diagram of two rays: ray HG and ray AB.

Line segment
A line segment is a portion of a “straight” line. A line segment does not extend
forever, but has two distinct endpoints. We write the name of a line segment
with endpoints A and B as “line segment AB” or as AB .

Example: The following is a diagram of two line segments: line segment CD and
line segment PN, or simply segment CD and segment PN.

Intersection

The term intersect is used when lines, rays, line segments of figures meet, that
is, they share a common point. The point they share is called the point of
intersection. We say that these figures intersect.

Example 1: In the diagram below, line AB and line GH intersect at point D.

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Example 2: In the diagram below, line 1 intersects the square in points M and N.

Example 3: In the diagram below, line 2 intersects the circle at point P.

Parallel lines
Two lines in the same plane which never intersect are called parallel lines. We
say that two segments are parallel if the lines that they lie on are parallel.

Example 1: Lines 1 and 2 below are parallel.

Example 2: The opposite sides of the rectangle below are parallel. The lines
passing through them never meet.

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7.2.- ANGLES
An angle measures the amount of turn.

The corner point of an angle is called the vertex.

And the two straight sides are called arms.

The angle is the amount of turn between each arm.

There are two main ways to label angles:

1. by giving the angle a name, usually a lower-

case letter like a or b, or sometimes a Greek
letter like α (alpha) or θ (theta),

2. or by the three letters on the shape that

define the angle, with the middle letter being
where the angle actually is (its vertex).

Example: angle “a” is “BAC”, and angle “ θ ” is “BCD”.

Measuring angles
We can measure angles in degrees (°). There are 360° in one full rotation (one
complete circle around).

A full circle is 360°

Half a circle is 180° (called a straight angle)
Quarter of a circle is 90° (called a right angle)

Why 360 degrees? Probably because old calendars

(such as the Persian Calendar) used 360 days for a
year - when they watched the stars they saw them
revolve around the North Star one degree per day.

You measure and draw angles in degrees using a protractor.

This angle is 74°

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Types of angles
As the angle increases, the name changes:

Acute angle: an angle that is less than 90°.

Right angle: an angle that is 90° exactly.
Obtuse angle: an angle that is greater than 90° but less than 180°.
Straight angle: an angle that is 180° exactly.
Reflex angle: an angle that is greater than 180°.
Full rotation: an angle that is 360° exactly.

Angles that add up to 180° are called supplementary

angles.

These two angles (140° and 40°) are supplementary

angles, because they add up to 180°).

Angles that add up to 90° are called complementary

angles.

These two angles (40° and 50°) are complementary angles,

because they add up to 90°).

Exercise 1

Find the missing angles in these diagrams by calculating.

i) ii) iii)

iv) v) vi)

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Exercise 2

Measure these angles:

Exercise 3

= 40° and C
Construct a triangle ABC with AC = 10 cm, A ɵ = 60° .

7.3.- BISECTING ANGLES AND SEGMENTS

If you bisect a segment or angle you cut it exactly in half:

A perpendicular bisector is the perpendicular line to the segment that cuts it in

two equal parts.

The points of the perpendicular bisector are

equidistant from the endpoints of the segment.

PA = PB QA = QB

An angle bisector is a line passing through the vertex of the angle that cuts it
into two equal smaller angles.

The points of the angle bisector are

equidistant from the sides of the angle.

PR = PS QR' = QS'

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Exercise 4

Draw any triangle. Construct the perpendicular bisector for each of the three
sides. What do you notice?

Exercise 5

Draw any triangle. Construct the angle bisector for each of the three angles.
What do you notice?

7.4.- ANGLES IN STRAIGHT LINES

Look at these angles:

Since the sides are parallel, the angles are equal or supplementary.

When two lines crosses, four angles are formed, as at

this crossroads.

a=c and b=d

Vertically opposite angles are equal.

When a line crosses two parallel lines, eight angles are formed:

There are four acute angles and four

obtuse angles.

The obtuse angles are all the same size.

2ɵ = 4

= 8ɵ = 6ɵ

The acute angles are all the same size.

1ɵ = 3ɵ = 7

=5
ɵ

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 Vertically opposite angles are equal:
1ɵ = 3ɵ 5ɵ =7

2ɵ = 4

ɵ = 8ɵ
6

Corresponding angles are equal:

1ɵ = 5ɵ 2ɵ = 6ɵ 3ɵ = 7


= 8ɵ
4

Alternate interior angles are equal:

3ɵ = 5
ɵ 2ɵ = 8ɵ

Alternate exterior angles are equal:

1ɵ = 7


=6
4 ɵ

Exercise 6

Find the missing angles in each diagram. Write down which angle fact you are
using each time.

a) b)

7.5.- ANGLES IN POLYGONS

A polygon is a plane closed shape with three or more straight sides.

Polygon Not a Polygon Not a Polygon

(straight sides) (has a curve) (open, not closed)

Polygon comes from Greek. Poly- means “many” and –gon means “angle”.

A regular polygon has all sides the same length and all interior angles equal.

The interior angles are inside the polygon.

The exterior angles are made by

extending each side in the same direction.
Exterior angles are outside the polygon.

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Exercise 7

Prove that the sum of angles in a triangle is 180°.

(Hint: Add a line parallel to AB.)

Interior angle sum of any polygon

Look at this pentagon.

A pentagon divides into 3 triangles. Angles in a triangle

add up to 180°.

So interior angle sum of a pentagon = 3 ⋅ 180° = 540°

You can divide any polygon into triangles by drawing

diagonals from a vertex (corner).

The number of triangles is always two less than the

number of sides.

(
For a polygon with n sides the interior angle sum = n − 2 ⋅ 180° )

Exercise 8

Complete the table.

Regular polygons
Hexagon Heptagon Octagon Nonagon Decagon

Number of sides
Number of triangles the shape
splits into
Sum of the interior angles in
the shape
Size of one interior angle

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Exercise 9

Find the missing angles in each polygon.

a) b) c)

d) e) f)

7.6.- INSCRIBED ANGLE THEOREMS

Inscribed angle: an angle made from points sitting on the circle’s
circumference.

A and C are “end points”

B is the “apex point”

Angle at the Centre Theorem:

An inscribed angle a° is half of the central angle 2a°.

Examples:

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Angle in a semicircle:

An angle inscribed in a semicircle is always a right angle.

The end points are on either end of a No matter where that angle is on the
circle’s diameter, the apex point can be circumference, it is always 90°.
anywhere on the circumference.

Angles Subtended by Same Arc Theorem:

Keeping the ends points fixed, the angle a° is always the same, no matter where
it is on the circumference.

Examples:

= 45° , what is the size of angles Bɵ and C
If the angle A ɵ?

= Bɵ = C
A ɵ = 45°

What is the size of angle CBX?

CBX + BXC + XCB = 180° (angles on a triangle add up to 180°)

XCB = 32° (angles subtended by the same arc)

CBX + 85° + 32° = 180° CBX = 63°

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Exercise 10

Find the missing angles.

a) b) c)

d) e) f)

7.7.- SYMMETRIC SHAPES

The simplest symmetry is reflection symmetry (sometimes called line symmetry
of mirror symmetry). It is easy to recognise, because one half is the reflection
of the other half.

The white line down the centre is the

line of symmetry.

You can find if a shape has a line of symmetry by folding it.

When the folded part sits perfectly on top (all edges matching), then the fold
line is a line of symmetry.

Examples:

This is not a line of symmetry.

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 This is a line of symmetry.

Not all shapes have lines of symmetry, or they may have several lines of
symmetry. For example, a triangle can have 3, or 1 or no lines of symmetry.

Equilateral triangle Isosceles triangle Scalene triangle

(all sides equal, (two sides equal, (no sides equal,
all angles equal) two angles equal) no angles equal)

Exercise 11

a) How many lines of symmetry does a regular polygon of “n” sides have?
b) How many lines of symmetry does a circle have?

Exercise 12

Find lines of symmetry in the following capital letters of the alphabet.

A B C D E F G
H I J K L M N
Ñ O P Q R S T
U V W X Y Z
Exercise 13

Complete the figure in order that it has the two indicated lines of symmetry.

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