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A shape's name comes down to
rules about sides and angles

Upper elementary · About 3 min read

There are so many kinds of triangles and quadrilaterals. But there are really only two things that decide a shape's name: side length and angle size.

🎮 Try the Circle, Triangle, Rectangle Sort activity 📚 See other topics

1A circle is built from two lengths: radius and diameter

The radius is the distance from the circle's center to its edge, and the diameter is the distance straight across, connecting two opposite ends. The diameter is always exactly twice the radius.

Diameter = radius × 2

If the radius is 5 cm, the diameter is always 10 cm.

2Triangles are sorted by side length or angle size

Equilateral triangleall three sides are the same length
Isosceles triangletwo sides are the same length
Right triangleone angle is exactly 90°

The same triangle can go by more than one name depending on which rule you look at. For example, a triangle can be both isosceles and a right triangle at the same time.

3Quadrilaterals are also sorted by how many sides are parallel

Squareall four sides and angles are equal
Rectangleall four angles are right angles
Parallelogramboth pairs of opposite sides are parallel
Rhombusall four sides are the same length
Trapezoidonly one pair of sides is parallel
Even if a shape looks crooked, its name stays the same.
Draw a square tilted at an angle, and it's still a square — as long as the rule (all four sides and angles equal) still holds.
Trapezoid Parallelogram Square
A square is also a rectangle, a parallelogram, and a trapezoid, all at once

4Try playing like this