A L G E B R A

A Self-Tutorial
by
Luis Anthony Ast
Professional Mathematics Tutor
FORMULAS FROM
GEOMETRY
Copyright

2006
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing of the author.
E-mail may be sent to: Luis-Ast@VideoMathTutor.com
2
This document is intended to present typical formulas from geometry.
Students in algebra or calculus (or other higher math classes) will
encounter them when doing word problems. This is NOT meant as a
formal, detailed lesson in geometry, just an informal review. No examples
of the use of the formulas are given, although a few more details will be
provided on the video version of this Lesson.
ANGLES
F Two angles are Compl ementary Angl es if the sum of the measures of
their angles is 90.
+ = 90
F Two angles are Suppl ementary Angl es if the sum of the measures of
their angles is 180.
+ = 180
L
In the following formulas, height is also called altitude.
TRIANGLES
s
1
s
2
Perimeter: P = s
1 +
s
2 +
s
3
s
3 <Add the lengths of all 3 sides>

3
h = height b = base
Area:

F An I soscel es Tri angl e has two sides that are of the same length.
F An Equi l ateral Tri angl e has all three sides of the same length.
Y The sum of the measures of the interior angles of any triangle is 180.
+ + = 180
F A Ri ght Tri angl e has one interior angle equal to 90.
F The Pythagorean Theorem states: For any right triangle, the sum of
the squares of the lengths of the legs is equal to the square of the length of
the hypotenuse.
hypotenuse
leg

leg
OR
h
b

90
4
a

b
Y Pythagorean Triples. Here are some examples of combinations of
integers that make the Pythagorean equation

true:
a b c
3 4 5
5 12 13
7 24 25
8 15 17
9 40 41
Y The sides of similar triangles are proportional.
a
b
d
f
c

QUADRILATERALS
(Four-sided figures)
Y Square:
s
s = side d = diagonal
s s d =

Perimeter: P = 4s
s
c
e
d
5
s Area:

s
Y Rectangle:
l = length w = width d = diagonal


Perimeter: P = 2l + 2w
w Area:

Y Parallelogram:
b b= base s = slant height
s
s
Perimeter: P = 2b + 2s
b
h = height
Area:

b
Y Trapezoid:
s
2
s
1
s
3 Perimeter: P =
s
1 +
s
2 +
s
3 +
s
4
<Add the lengths of all 4 sides>
s
4
l
l
d
l
h
w w
6
b
2
b
1 = first base
b
2 = second base
h = height
Area:

b
1
In calculus, you may encounter trapezoids on their sides:
h
1 = first height
h
2 = second height
b = base
h
1
h
2 Area:

b
Y The sum of the measures of the interior angles of any quadrilateral is
360.
+ + + = 360
CIRCLES
r = radius d = diameter C = circumference
Diameter: d = 2r Circumference: C = 2r
or C = d
r
h

d
7
Area:



3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510
<Pronounced: pie> is the number of diameters that can fit on the
circumference of a circle.

and 3.14 are typical approximations of .
SOLID FIGURES
Y Cube:
s = side of cube d = diagonal of face
D = diagonal of cube


s Surface Area:

Volume:

s
Y Rectangular Box (or Rectangular Parallelepiped):
= length w = width h = height
d = diagonal of box


Surface Area: SA = 2( w + wh + h)

r
D
d
d
h
w
8
Volume:


Y Prisms (any kind):
h = height A = Area of the base
Volume:

The video illustrates other examples of prisms.
Y Pyramids (any kind):
h = height A = Area of the base
Volume:

The video illustrates other examples of pyramids.
Y Cone (Right Circular Cone):
s = slant height h = height
r = radius

Lateral Surface Area (Area of cone
not counting the area of base):

h
w
h
h
s
A
r
h
A
9
Total Surface Area:

or

Volume:

Y Cylinder (Right Circular Cylinder):
r = radius h = height
Lateral Surface Area:

Total Surface Area:

Volume:

h
r
h
r
r
10
Y Sphere:
r = radius
Surface Area:

Volume:

END OF LESSON
r
r