Sum of Polygon Angle Measure Investigation
- Author:
- jmfurno726
We have already discussed the Triangle Angle-Sum Theorem, which tells us the measure of all angles included in a triangle add up to 180 degrees. Now, let's take a look at some other polygons and see if we can discover a rule which will tell us how many degrees are in an n-sided figure! For each figure below, do the following things:
- Add up the total degrees of the interior angles of the figure as you see it now.
- Click and drag one of the vertices to a new location. Notice that as you move the corner, the angle measures of the figure change with you. Now, add up the interior angle measures again to get a new total.
- move two more vertices of the same figure to create a third shape with the same number of sides. Again, calculate the total degrees of the interior angles of the polygon.
- What do you notice for each of these three examples? Were the angle measure totals the same each time or different?