Kinds Of Quadrilaterals And Their Properties
When it comes to the kinds of quadrilaterals and their properties it becomes necessary to go into the details. We see all kinds of shapes around us in our homes and in the buildings surrounding us. They are made from different geometrical shapes. One of the most used and simplest of shapes is a quadrilateral from which many other shapes can be made. A quadrilateral can be of any shape with four sides. It is a type of polygon and is termed as ‘quad’rilateral because it has got four angles. However, for a shape to consider as a quadrilateral its all sides have to be straight and it should be 2 dimensional.
Some of the general properties of a quadrilateral are that it has got four sides. A quadrilateral has got four corners and the sum of its interior angles is 360o. However, based on varying properties, the quadrilaterals have got different kinds.
Rectangle:
A rectangle is a kind of quadrilateral which has got four sides such that the opposite sides are parallel to each other. Opposite sides are also equal to each other. All angles in a rectangle are equal to 90 degrees and that is why it is known as a ‘rectangle’ i.e right angled. Rectangle is one among the several other kinds of quadrilaterals and their properties may differ from all other quadrilaterals.
Square:
Square is a kind of quadrilateral in which all four sides are equal to each other. The opposite sides are parallel to each other and all interior angles are equal to 90 degrees so the total sum comes out to be 360 degrees.
Rhombus:
A rhombus is a counterpart of square in the sense that all four sides are equal. However, it has an additional property which differentiates it from a square. The angles in a rhombus are equal as well but they can be other than 90 degrees.
Parallelogram:
A parallelogram has got opposite sides which are equal to each other and are parallel to each other. However, it has got an additional condition that the opposite angles are also equal to each other. An interesting fact here is that by definition all rhombuses, squares and rectangles are parallelograms. In other words, we can say that a parallelogram with all sides equal and angles equal to 90 degrees is a square.
Trapezium:
A trapezium or trapezoid (in the US) is a kind of quadrilateral in which opposite sides are parallel to each other. It qualifies as an isosceles trapezoid if the angles coming from opposite sides or the parallel sides are equal to each other.
Kite:
Kite is a kind of quadrilateral which has got two pairs of parallel sides. The pairs are equal in length and adjacent to each other. They form equal angles at the point where the pairs meet each other. Another property of kite is that one of the diagonals cuts the other equally and is perpendicular to it.
There is another classification on the basis of which we can define the kinds of quadrilaterals and their properties. Quadrilaterals can be divided into either regular or irregular quadrilaterals. There is only one type of regular quadrilaterals and that is the square. All other quadrilaterals are placed in the irregular kinds of quadrilaterals and their properties can include many other details.
