Search All of the Math Forum:
Views expressed in these public forums are not endorsed by
Drexel University or The Math Forum.
|
|
|
|
Re: fourth grade geometry question???
Posted:
Jan 31, 2005 11:48 PM
|
|
>
>I know you posted this last week but I am in the same boat. My 4th
>grader as a geometry sheet for homework and I am lost. We do not have
>a book to go by either. What is wrong with this system?? It has been
>almost 20 yrs. since graduated much less did geometry. I am looking
to
>fing out what type of shape has four sides that are not equal.
The figure being described is generally called a "kite." In fact, it
looks like a kite (that a child would fly). It has 2 pairs of
congruent sides (let's say sides AB and BC are congruent, and sides CD
and DA are congruent). It is not a parallelogram because the opposite
sides are not parallel.
For an exact definition of kite, I give you what Prof. Moise uses: A
kite is a quadrilateral in which exactly one diagonal is the
perpendicular bisector of the other diagonal. (If both diagonals were
perpendicular bisectors of each other, the figure would be a rhombus,
and therefore a parallelogram. To add to the definitional confusion,
Prof. Conway would, in fact, call all rhombuses kites. Most writers
use the definition set forth by Prof. Moise, however.)
Hope this is of some help.
|
|
|
|
