Regular/irregular polygon

Determine whether a polygon is regular or irregular, and use the interior-angle-sum rule 180(n - 2) to find a polygon's angle sum, one interior angle of a regular polygon, the number of sides of a polygon, or a missing angle in an irregular polygon.

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Learning objective overview

Master Teaching Guide coverage for this objective.

Current NZC (2007)
  • GM5-5
New NZC (2026)
  • NZC26-P4-GEO-SHP-P-Y10-01
  • NZC26-P3-GEO-SPR-K-Y7-01
  • NZC26-P3-GEO-SPR-K-Y7-02
  • NZC26-P3-GEO-SPR-K-Y7-04
  • NZC26-P3-GEO-SPR-P-Y8-02
  • NZC26-P3-GEO-SPR-P-Y8-03

Resources

  • CorbettMaths on angle properties of polygonsQuestions PDF · Answers
  • Beta: Triangles: Exercise 18.06, pg 349
  • Beta: Exterior Polygons: Exercise 19.02, pg 375
  • Beta: Interior Polygons: Exercise 19.03, pgs 376 & 377
  • Beta: Regular polygons: Exercise 377 & 379

Terminology

  • regular polygon
  • irregular polygon
  • internal angle

Task goals

  • State whether a described or pictured polygon is regular or irregular, and complete the statement that a regular polygon has all sides the same length and all interior angles equal.
  • Find the sum of the interior angles of a polygon using 180(n - 2), for shapes from a triangle up to an octagon.
  • Find the size of one interior angle of a regular polygon (pentagon, hexagon, octagon, nonagon, or decagon) by dividing the interior-angle sum by the number of sides.
  • Find a missing interior angle of an irregular polygon given all its other interior angles.
  • Find the number of sides of a polygon given its interior-angle sum, or given the size of one interior angle of a regular polygon.
  • Justify why a polygon with equal sides and equal angles must be regular, and evaluate a claim that equal angles alone are enough to make a polygon regular.
  • Find the missing angles of an irregular polygon whose interior angles are given as a ratio.
  • Write a general formula relating a regular polygon's interior-angle sum to one interior angle and the number of sides, and use it to solve multi-step problems relating one regular polygon to another.

Where this fits

What leads into this objective, and where it goes next.

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Regular/irregular polygon

Regular/irregular polygon

Know

The sum of the exterior angles of a polygon is 360°.

Statement▸
Year 7 · Geometry · Spatial reasoning
NZC26-P3-GEO-SPR-K-Y7-01
Know

In a regular polygon, all exterior angles are the same; an exterior angle can be found by subtracting the interior angle from 180° or by dividing 360° by the number of sides.

Statement▸
Year 7 · Geometry · Spatial reasoning
NZC26-P3-GEO-SPR-K-Y7-02

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