Sum of Interior Angles of a Polygon
Below are 5 polygons with the measures of their interior angles labeled. In this activity, we are going to investigate and come up with a way to calculate the sum of the interior angles using the number of sides of the polygon. |
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1) Start with the triangle. What is the sum of the interior angles? 2) Now, move one or more of the vertices. What happens to the sum? 3) Repeat steps 1 and 2 with the other four polygons. 4) What happens to the sum as you add another side? What conclusion can you draw about the sum of the interior angles of a polygon related to the number of sides of the figure? 5) Use your conclusion from question 4 to predict the number of degrees in a decagon and a 27-gon. |
Exterior angles of polygons
For each polygon below, find the sum of the exterior angles.[br]Move the vertices, keeping each polygon convex, and find the new sum of the exterior angles for each polygon.[br]Did the values change?