Q is for . . .

I'm posting Mad-Cool-Math Nuggets this month.


Image courtesy: Gabrielle

Q is for quadrilateral or a four-sided polygon with four angles. Some common quadrilaterals include rectangles, squares, and parallelograms.

I bet you know what rectangles and square are. Heck, you might even be square, like me. In a parallelogram, like the name implies, the opposite sides must be parallel and equal in length.

One interesting fact about quadrilaterals is that no matter what kind you draw, you can connect the midpoints to make a parallelogram. (Source: The Twelve Most Controversial Facts in Mathematics from The Business Insider)

Here's an example from Wikipedia:

Image courtesy: Wikicommons

In this picture, the black lines going from A to B to C to D form the grey quadrilateral. The midpoints are E, F, G, and H. The red lines between these midpoints form the red parallelogram in the middle.

Neato.

Did you take geometry in school? Like it? Hate it? For me, ninth grade geometry was special because the teacher turned out to be the mom of my best friend in kindergarden.