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Cheatsheet - Geometry Properties & Formulas

1. Basic Shapes and Their Properties

Triangle

  • Area: \( A = \frac{1}{2} \times \text{base} \times \text{height} \)
  • Perimeter: \( P = a + b + c \) (sum of all sides)
  • Pythagorean Theorem (Right Triangle): \( a^2 + b^2 = c^2 \), where \( c \) is the hypotenuse.
  • Equilateral Triangle:
    • Area: \( A = \frac{\sqrt{3}}{4} \times s^2 \)
    • Height: \( h = \frac{\sqrt{3}}{2} \times s \)

Rectangle

  • Area: \( A = \text{length} \times \text{width} \)
  • Perimeter: \( P = 2(\text{length} + \text{width}) \)

Square

  • Area: \( A = s^2 \), where \( s \) is the side length.
  • Perimeter: \( P = 4s \)

Parallelogram

  • Area: \( A = \text{base} \times \text{height} \)
  • Perimeter: \( P = 2(a + b) \), where \( a \) and \( b \) are the lengths of the opposite sides.

Trapezoid

  • Area: \( A = \frac{1}{2} \times (\text{base}_1 + \text{base}_2) \times \text{height} \)
  • Perimeter: \( P = \text{base}_1 + \text{base}_2 + \text{leg}_1 + \text{leg}_2 \)

Circle

  • Area: \( A = \pi r^2 \)
  • Circumference: \( C = 2\pi r \)
  • Arc Length (for a sector with angle \( \theta \)): \( L = \frac{\theta}{360} \times 2\pi r \)
  • Area of a Sector (for angle \( \theta \)): \( A_{\text{sector}} = \frac{\theta}{360} \times \pi r^2 \)

2. Polygons

Regular Polygon

  • Area: \( A = \frac{1}{2} \times \text{Perimeter} \times \text{Apothem} \)
  • Interior Angle: \( \theta = \frac{(n - 2) \times 180^\circ}{n} \), where \( n \) is the number of sides.
  • Exterior Angle: \( \theta = \frac{360^\circ}{n} \)

3. Solid Figures

Rectangular Prism

  • Volume: \( V = \text{length} \times \text{width} \times \text{height} \)
  • Surface Area: \( SA = 2(\text{lw} + \text{lh} + \text{wh}) \)

Cube

  • Volume: \( V = s^3 \)
  • Surface Area: \( SA = 6s^2 \)

Cylinder

  • Volume: \( V = \pi r^2 h \)
  • Surface Area: \( SA = 2\pi r^2 + 2\pi r h \)

Cone

  • Volume: \( V = \frac{1}{3} \pi r^2 h \)
  • Surface Area: \( SA = \pi r^2 + \pi r l \), where \( l \) is the slant height.

Sphere

  • Volume: \( V = \frac{4}{3} \pi r^3 \)
  • Surface Area: \( SA = 4\pi r^2 \)

4. Angles

  • Sum of Interior Angles of a Polygon: \( S = (n - 2) \times 180^\circ \), where \( n \) is the number of sides.
  • Straight Angle: \( 180^\circ \)
  • Right Angle: \( 90^\circ \)
  • Complementary Angles: Two angles that sum to \( 90^\circ \).
  • Supplementary Angles: Two angles that sum to \( 180^\circ \).

5. Coordinate Geometry

Distance Formula

  • \( d = \sqrt{(x_2 - x_1)^2 + (y_2 - y_1)^2} \)

Midpoint Formula

  • \( M = \left( \frac{x_1 + x_2}{2}, \frac{y_1 + y_2}{2} \right) \)

Slope of a Line

  • \( m = \frac{\text{rise}}{\text{run}} = \frac{y_2 - y_1}{x_2 - x_1} = \frac{\Delta y}{\Delta x}\)

Equation of a Line

  • Slope-Intercept Form: \( y = mx + b \)
  • Point-Slope Form: \( y - y_1 = m(x - x_1) \)
  • Standard Form: \( Ax + By = C \)

6. Transformations

Translation: Moves a figure a certain distance.

  • \( (x, y) \to (x + a, y + b) \)

Rotation: Rotates a figure around a point.

  • 90° rotation: \( (x, y) \to (-y, x) \)
  • 180° rotation: \( (x, y) \to (-x, -y) \)
  • 270° rotation: \( (x, y) \to (y, -x) \)

Reflection:

  • Over the x-axis: \( (x, y) \to (x, -y) \)
  • Over the y-axis: \( (x, y) \to (-x, y) \)

Dilation: Enlarges or reduces a figure by a scale factor \( k \).

  • \( (x, y) \to (kx, ky) \)

7. Similarity and Congruence

Similarity:

  • Two figures are similar if their corresponding angles are congruent and corresponding sides are proportional.
    • Ratio of Similarity: \( \frac{\text{Side}_1}{\text{Side}_2} = k \)

Congruence:

  • Two figures are congruent if they have the same shape and size.
  • \( \triangle ABC \cong \triangle DEF \) means all corresponding sides and angles are equal.

8. Trigonometry (Right Triangles)

  • Sine: \( \sin(\theta) = \frac{\text{opposite}}{\text{hypotenuse}} \)
  • Cosine: \( \cos(\theta) = \frac{\text{adjacent}}{\text{hypotenuse}} \)
  • Tangent: \( \tan(\theta) = \frac{\text{opposite}}{\text{adjacent}} \)
  • Pythagorean Identity: \( \sin^2(\theta) + \cos^2(\theta) = 1 \)