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CHEAT SHEET
Geometry For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Identifying the 45 – 45 – 90 Degree

Triangle
Interior and Exterior Angles of a
Polygon
How to Determine the Length of an Arc
Properties of Rhombuses, Rectangles,
and Squares
GEOMETRY FOR DUMMIES
CHEAT SHEET
From Geometry For Dummies, 3rd Edition
By Mark Ryan
Successfully understanding and studying geometry involves using
strategies for your geometry proofs; knowing important equations; and
being able to identify commonly used geometry symbols.

Sizing Up the Area of a Polygon 13

How to Copy an Angle Using a Compass

GEOMETRY FORMULAS AND OTHER IMPORTANT
STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW
How to Copy a Line Segment Using a Compass

What follows are over three dozen of the most important geometry
How to Find the Right Angle to Two Points formulas, theorems, properties, and so on that you use for calculations. If
you get stumped while working on a geometry problem and can’t come
up with a formula, this is the place to look.

TRIANGLE STUFF
Sum of the interior angles of a triangle: 180º

Area:

Hero’s area formula: , where a, b, and c

are the lengths of the triangle’s sides and (S is the
semiperimeter, half the perimeter)

Area of an equilateral triangle: , where s is a

side of the triangle

The Pythagorean Theorem: a2 + b2 + c2, where a and b are the legs

of a right triangle and c is the hypotenuse

Common Pythagorean triples (side lengths in right triangles):

3–4–5

5–12–13

7–24–25

8–15–17

Ratios of the sides in special right triangles:

The sides opposite the angles in a 45º–45º–90º triangle are in the
ratio of .

The sides opposite the angles in a 30º–60º–90º triangle are in the

ratio of .

Altitude-on-Hypotenuse Theorem: If an altitude is drawn to the

hypotenuse of a right triangle, then
The two triangles formed are similar to the given triangle and to
each other:

h2 = xy

h2 = xy and b2 = xc

POLYGON STUFF
Area formulas:
Parallelogram: Area = base height

Rectangle: Area = base × height

Kite or rhombus:

Square:

Trapezoid:

Regular polygon:

Sum of the interior angles in an n-sided polygon: SumInterior angles

= (n – 2)180º

Measure of each interior angle of a regular (or other

equiangular) n-sided polygon:
or (the supplement of an exterior
angle)

Sum of the exterior angles (one at each vertex) of any polygon:

SumExterior angles = 360º

Measure of each exterior angle of a regular (or other

equiangular) n-sided polygon:

Number of diagonals that can be drawn in an n-sided polygon:

CIRCLE STUFF
Circumference: C = 2πr or πd, where r is the radius of the circle and
d is its diameter

Area: AreaCircle = πr2

Arc length: The length of an arc (part of the circumference) is equal to

the circumference of the circle (2πr) times the fraction of the circle
represented by the arc.

Sector area: The area of a sector (a pizza-slice shape cut out of a

circle) is equal to the area of the circle (πr2) times the fraction of the
circle represented by the sector.

Measure of an angle . . .
On a circle:

Inside a circle:

Outside a circle:

Chord-Chord Power Theorem: When two chords of a circle intersect,

the product of the parts of one chord is equal to the product of the
parts of the other chord.

Tangent-Secant Power Theorem: When a tangent and a secant of a

circle meet at an external point, the measure of the tangent squared is
equal to the product of the secant’s external part and its total length.

Secant-Secant Power Theorem: When two secants of a circle meet

at an external point, the product of one secant’s external part and its
total length is equal to the product of the other secant’s external part
and its total length.

3-D GEOMETRY STUFF

Flat-top objects (prisms and cylinders):
Volume: VolFlat-top = areabase × height

Surface area: SAFlat-top = 2 × areabase + arealateral rectangles

For a cylinder, the single lateral rectangle that wraps around the
cylinder has a length equal to the circumference of the cylinder’s
base; its width is the cylinder’s height.

Pointy-top objects (pyramids and cones):

Volume:

Surface area: SAPointy-top = areabase + arealateral triangles

For a pyramid, the base of each lateral triangle is a side of the
pyramid’s base, and the height of the triangle is the slant height of
the pyramid. For a cone, one “triangle” wraps around the cone; its
base is equal to the circumference of the cone’s base, and its height
is equal to the slant height of the cone.

Sphere:
Volume:

Surface area: SASphere = 4πr2

COORDINATE GEOMETRY STUFF

Slope formula: Given two points (x1, y1) and (x2, y2), the slope of the
line that goes through the points is

It doesn’t matter which point is designated as (x1, y1) and which is

designated as (x2, y2).
The slopes of parallel lines are equal.

The slopes of perpendicular lines are opposite reciprocals of each

other.

Midpoint formula: Given a segment with endpoints (x1, y1) and (x2,
y2), the coordinates of its midpoint are

It doesn’t matter which point is (x1, y1) and which is(x2, y2).

Distance formula: Given two points (x1, y1) and (x2, y2), the distance
between the points is

It doesn’t matter which point is (x1, y1) and which is (x2, y2).

Equations of a line:
Slope-intercept form: y = mx + b, where m is the slope and b is the
y-intercept

Point-slope form: y – y1 = m(x – x1), where m is the slope and (x1,

y1) is a point on the line

Horizontal line: y = b, where b is the y-intercept

Vertical line: x = a, where a is the x-intercept

Equation of a circle: (x – h)2 + (y – k)2 = r2, where (h, k) is the center of

the circle and r is its radius

PROOF STRATEGIES IN GEOMETRY

Knowing how to write two-column geometry proofs provides a solid basis

for working with theorems. Practicing these strategies will help you write
geometry proofs easily in no time:

Make a game plan. Try to gure out how to get from the givens to
the prove conclusion with a plain English, commonsense argument
before you worry about how to write the formal, two-column proof.

Make up numbers for segments and angles. During the game plan
stage, it’s sometimes helpful to make up arbitrary lengths for segments
or measures for angles. Doing the math with those numbers (addition,
subtraction, multiplication, or division) can help you understand how
the proof works.

Look for congruent triangles (and keep CPCTC in mind). In

diagrams, try to nd all pairs of congruent triangles. Proving one or
more of these pairs of triangles congruent (with SSS, SAS, ASA, AAS, or
HLR) will likely be an important part of the proof. Then you’ll almost
certainly use CPCTC on the line right after you prove triangles
congruent.

Try to nd isosceles triangles. Glance at the proof diagram and look

for all isosceles triangles. If you nd any, you’ll very likely use the if-
sides-then-angles or the if-angles-then-sides theorem somewhere in
the proof.

Look for parallel lines. Look for parallel lines in the proof’s diagram
or in the givens. If you nd any, you’ll probably use one or more of the
parallel-line theorems.

Look for radii and draw more radii. Notice each and every radius of
a circle and mark all radii congruent. Draw new radii to important
points on the circle, but don’t draw a radius that goes to a point on the
circle where nothing else is happening.

Use all the givens. Geometry book authors don’t put irrelevant givens
in proofs, so ask yourself why the author provided each given. Try
putting each given down in the statement column and writing another
statement that follows from that given, even if you don’t know how it’ll
help you.

Check your if-then logic.

For each reason, check that

All the ideas in the if clause appear in the statement column

somewhere above the line you‘re checking.

The single idea in the then clause also appears in the statement
column on the same line.
You can also use this strategy to gure out what reason to use in the
rst place.

Work backward. If you get stuck, jump to the end of the proof and
work back toward the beginning. After looking at the prove conclusion,
make a guess about the reason for that conclusion. Then use your if-
then logic to gure out the second-to-last statement (and so on).

Think like a computer. In a two-column proof, every single step in

the chain of logic must be expressed, even if it’s the most obvious thing
in the world. Doing a proof is like communicating with a computer: The
computer won’t understand you unless every little thing is precisely
spelled out.

Do something. Before you give up on a proof, put whatever you

understand down on paper. It’s quite remarkable how often putting
something on paper triggers another idea, then another, and then
another. Before you know it, you’ve nished the proof.

COMMON GEOMETRY SYMBOLS

Using geometry symbols will save time and space when writing proofs,
properties, and guring formulas. The most commonly used geometry
symbols and their meanings are