Mathematics Handout

Quadrilateral

By: Aurelius Bryan Y

7 Asia

A.

DEFINITION
Quadrilateral is a shape you can see in everyday life. From books,
kite, buildings, you can always identify the presence of a
quadrilateral. However, not all shapes you see in this world is a
Quadrilateral. So what is a Quadrilateral? A quadrilateral is a 4sided polygon where none of its sides intersect each other. Sum of
the angle in a quadrilateral is 360.

B.

PROPERTIES

1.

SQUARE
Square is probably the first shape you learnt. It have well, same
sides and you can see from a dice or a Pizza Box. The following
are the properties for a square:
All sides are equal

All angles are 90

Both diagonals are perpendicular to each other

2.

RECTANGLE

The Rectangle is mainly the most common shape in real life. It is

like a square, but not all sides are equal. It can be seen as in a TV,
Laptop, or other things. These are the properties of a rectangle.
Parallel lines have the same length.

All angles are 90

3.

PARALLELOGRAM
The parellelogram is like a bended rectangle. Try to make a
rectangle using straws, the edges will bend and that is a
parallelogram. And yes, a rectangle is a parallelogram
2 pairs of parallel lines

Parallel lines have the same length

 Opposite angles are equal

4.

TRAPEZIUM
A trapezium can be seen to be quite random, since its
requirements is simply a pair of parallel lines. The 2 pictures below
seem different, but they are both trapeziums.

Exactly a pair of parallel lines

5.

RHOMBUS
The simplest way to describe it is an equal sided parallelogram.
Diagonals are perpendicular.

2 pairs of parallel lines.

 Opposite angles are equal.

6.

KITE
Ever seen a kite? Just look at the first page! A kite looks somewhat
similar to that. A kite need to have a pair of perpendicular
diagonals.
2 pair of side with equal length

A pair of equal angles

A pair of perpendicular diagonals

C.

Methods of Proving Area

1.

SQUARE
Method 1:
We all know, the area of a rectangle is base height. So
assume the square have side length a. Since the base is
a and the height is also a, the area of the square is:
a a = !

a
Method 2:
Divide the square diagonally we get:
a
a
a

L1
a

L2
a
Area of square

= L1 + L2
= (a a 2) + (a a 2)
!!

= ! +
= !

2.

!!
!

RECTANGLE
Method 1:
The area of a rectangle is base height. So the
area of a rectangle is :
b h.

b
h

b
Method 2:
Divide the rectangle diagonally we get:
b
h

L1

h
L2
b

Area of rectangle = L1 + L2
= (b h 2) + (b h 2)
!!
!!
= ! + !
=bh

3.

PARALLELOGRAM
Method 1: Cut out a triangle from the parallelogram

h
b

h
b

Here, you can see that the parallelogram have turned into a rectangle.
So, the area of a parallelogram is : b h s

4.

TRAPEZIUM

Method 1: Split the trapezium into a triangle, and a

rectangle. Calculate their areas and sum them up

b1
h

L1
b2

L2

Area of trapezium:

L1 + L2

= (b1 h) + {(b2 b1) h 2}

= b1 h +
=

!! ! !! !

!! ! ! !! !
!

= ! ! + !
Method 2:
This method is a bit complicated. Put midpoints into the slanting sides,
draw triangles by drawing lines straight down from the midpoints. Then,
rotate the triangles.
b1

b2

The base of the rectangle is now :

!! ! !!
!
!

Multiply it with the height, you get: ! ! + !

5.

RHOMBUS AND KITE

Method 1: Divide the shape into 2 triangles.
d1
d2

d1

Area of either quadrilateral

d2

= L1 + L2
= (d1 d2 4) + (d1 d2 4)
! !
! !
= !! ! + !! !
=

!! !!
!