Perimeter
Finding the perimeter
For any polygon, or 2D shape, we can add up the length of every side to find the perimeter of the shape. Rectangles and squares have special features that mean we don't need to know the length of every side, since some sides are the same length.
Special quadrilaterals also have features that are really useful to find the perimeter. Let's see how we can use them to find the perimeter of a parallelogram, kite, rhombus and trapezium.
Worked Example
Question 1
Find the perimeter of the trapezium shown.
Using the perimeter to find length
When we have shapes, such as special quadrilaterals, and we know the perimeter, we can often find the missing length of some sides. Knowing the things that make our shapes special helps us with this, so let's see how we can use the perimeter to find the length of some sides. It's just like finding the missing value from any polygon, except we may not need to know the length of as many sides in some cases!
Worked Examples
Question 1
Find the length, in centimetres, of the shortest side of the kite shown. Use $s$s as the length of the side.
Question 2
Find the length of each side of a rhombus if its perimeter is $40$40 mm.
The way we calculate the perimeter, or work out the length of sides, doesn't change with special quadrilaterals. With some shapes, we just have some extra things to help us, so identifying those things can make the process a little easier.