Dilation Exploration
- Author:
- Ben Graber
- Topic:
- Dilation
Dilation Exploration
Use the applet below to explore the properties of dilating a polygon from different points on the coordinate plane.
Note that ScaleE is the scale factor for dilating from point E, ScaleA is the scale factor for dilating from point A, and so on.
1. If you dilate from point E, what happens when you increase the scale factor for dilation (ScaleE)?
What happens when you decrease the scale factor for dilation?
How can you find the new coordinates of the vertices of the polygon using (a) the scale factor of dilation (ScaleE), (b) the coordinates of the original vertices (A, B, C, and D), and (c) the coordinates of the point of dilation (E)?
2. If you dilate from point A, what happens when you increase the scale factor for dilation (ScaleA)?
What happens when you decrease the scale factor for dilation?
How can you find the new coordinates of the vertices of the polygon using (a) the scale factor of dilation (ScaleA), (b) the coordinates of the original vertices (A, B, C, and D), and (c) the coordinates of the point of dilation (A)?
3. If you dilate from point F, what happens when you increase the scale factor for dilation (ScaleF)?
What happens when you decrease the scale factor for dilation?
How can you find the new coordinates of the vertices of the polygon using (a) the scale factor of dilation (ScaleF), (b) the coordinates of the original vertices (A, B, C, and D), and (c) the coordinates of the point of dilation (F)?
4. If you dilate from point H, what happens when you increase the scale factor for dilation (ScaleH)?
What happens when you decrease the scale factor for dilation?
How can you find the new coordinates of the vertices of the polygon using (a) the scale factor of dilation (ScaleH), (b) the coordinates of the original vertices (A, B, C, and D), and (c) the coordinates of the point of dilation (H)?
5. Following the pattern observed above, how could you find the coordinates of the vertices of the polygon if you dilated from point G?