Points
In geometry, we use points to specify exact
locations. They are generally denoted by a number
or letter. Because points specify a single, exact
location, they are zero-dimensional. In other words,
points have no length, width, or height. It may be
helpful to think of a point as a miniscule “dot” on a
piece of paper.
Lines
Lines in geometry may be thought of as a “straight”
line that can be drawn on paper with a pencil and
ruler. However, instead of this line being bounded
by the dimensions of the paper, a line extends
infinitely in both directions. A line is one-
dimensional, having length, but no width or height.
Lines are uniquely determined by two points.
Line Segments
Consider the task of drawing a “straight” line on a piece of
paper (as we’ve done when thinking about lines). What
you’ve actually done is create a line segment. Because our
piece of paper has defined dimensions and we cannot
draw a line infinitely in any direction, we have constructed a
segment that begins somewhere and ends somewhere.
Note that the notation for lines and line segments differ
because a line segment has a defined length, whereas a
line does not.
Rays
A ray is a “straight” line that begins at a certain point and
extends infinitely in one direction. A ray has one endpoint,
which marks the position from where it begins. This notation
shows that the ray begins at point A and extends infinitely in
the direction of point B.
Planes
A plane can be thought of as a two-dimensional
flat surface, having length and width, but no height.
A plane extends indefinitely on all sides and is
composed of an infinite number of points and lines.
One way to think about a plane is as a sheet of
paper with infinite length and width.
Space
Space is the set of all possible points on an infinite
number of planes. Thus, space covers all three
dimensions – length, width, and height.
Endpoints
Endpoints mark the beginning or end of a line segment or
ray. Line segments have two endpoints, giving them defined
lengths, whereas rays only have one endpoint, so the length
of a ray cannot be measured.
Midpoints
The midpoint of a line segment marks the point at which the
segment is divided into two equal segments. In other words,
the lengths of the segments from either endpoint to the
midpoint are equal. Note that neither lines nor rays can
have midpoints because they extend infinitely in at least one
direction. It would be impossible to find the middle of a line
or ray that never ends!
Parallel
Two lines that will never intersect are called parallel lines. In
the case of line segments and rays, we must consider the
lines that they lie in. In other words, we must consider the
case that the line segments or rays were actually lines that
extend infinitely in both directions. If the lines they lie on
never intersect, they are called parallel.
Intersection
When we have lines, line segments, or rays that
meet, or cross at a certain point, we call it an
intersection point. In other words, those figures
intersect somewhere.
Transversal
A transversal is a type of line that intersects at least two
other lines. The lines that a transversal crosses may or may
not be parallel.
In both figures, the red line is a transversal.
Angles
Angle
An angle is formed when two rays meet at a
common endpoint, or vertex. The two sides of the
angle are the rays, and the point that unites them is
called the vertex.
The vertices are shown in red in the diagram above
Naming Angles
Angles can be named in various ways. One way is
to use the ∠ symbol accompanied by three letters.
The first and third letters indicate points on the two
rays. The letter in the middle is the vertex.
The angle above can be called ∠ABC, ∠CBA, ∠B, or ∠α
Classifications of Angles
Angles can be measured in degrees or radians. For
the time being, we will strictly talk about angles in
terms of their degree measure. The symbol for
degrees is °. Angles can measure from 0° up to
360°. Angles with no measure are called zero
angles, while angles of 360° are full rotations. For our
study of geometry, we will primarily focus on three
important classifications of angles:
• Acute
• Obtuse
• Right
• Straight
• Reflex
Right Angle
A right angle is an angle whose measure is exactly 90°. An
easy way to determine whether an angle is a right angle is
by considering whether a small square could fit perfectly in
the corner of the intersection of the two lines that form the
angle. While you would need a protractor to give a more
precise measurement, this can give you an approximation
of whether or not an angle is close to 90°.
Acute Angle
An acute angle is an angle whose measure is less than 90°.
For these kinds of angles, a square could not fit perfectly at
the intersection of the two lines that form them.
Obtuse Angle
Obtuse angles have measures greater than 90° but less than
180°.
Straight Angle
If an angle’s measure is 180°, it is called a straight angle.
Straight angles are just lines with three points on them.
Reflex Angle
If an angle’s measure is 180° < x < 360 °, it is called a reflex angle.
Pairs of Angles
Complementary Angles
Two angles are complementary angles if their degree
measurements add up to 90°. That is, if we attach both
angles and fit them side by side (by putting the vertices and
one side on top of each other), they will form a right angle.
We can also say that one of the angles is the complement
of the other.
Complementary angles are angles whose sum is 90°
Supplementary Angles
Another special pair of angles is called
supplementary angles. One angle is said to be the
supplement of the other if the sum of their degree
measurements is 180°. In other words, if we put the
angles side by side, the result would be a straight
line.
Supplementary angles are angles whose sum is 180°
Vertical Angles
Vertical angles are the angles opposite of each other at the
intersection of two lines. They are called vertical angles
because they share a common vertex. Vertical angles
always have equal measures.
∠JKL and ∠MKN are vertical angles. Another pair of vertical angles in the picture
is ∠JKM and ∠LKN.
Corresponding Angles
Corresponding angles are the pairs of angles on the same
side of the transversal and on corresponding sides of the two
other lines. These angles are equal in degree measure when
the two lines intersected by the transversal are parallel.
It may help to draw the letter "F" (forwards and backwards)
in order to help identify corresponding angles. This method is
illustrated below.
Drawing the letter "F" backwards
helps us see that ∠ADH and ∠EHF
are corresponding angles. We
have three other pairs of
corresponding angles in this
figure.
