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Math Forum » Discussions » Math Topics » geometry.pre-college.independent

Topic: Trapezoid definition
Replies: 26   Last Post: Oct 7, 2004 11:51 PM

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Donna W.

Posts: 2
Registered: 12/10/04
Re: Is a rectangle a square?
Posted: Oct 7, 2004 10:29 PM
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On 28 Oct 03 12:24:59 -0500 (EST), Pamela Paramour wrote:
>Is a square a rectangle? When did the geniuses of the Math world
come
>up with that one? If you refer to Webster, a square is a
>parallelogram with 4 EQUAL sides and 4 right angles. Wouldn't that
>rule out a rectangle? Sorry, but I'm no math wiz, just wondering why
>my daughter got that answer wrong on a math quiz. Would love this
>explained in Laymons Terms. :)

I have a similiar situation and my question is "If a rectangle is
actually a square, why were we ever taught about a shape called a
rectangle in the first place. If the shape fits the description of a
square, it's a square. No rectangle I have ever seen has looked like
or fit the mathematical description of a square and vice-versa.

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