The concept of trapezoid is a fascinating one as it is mainly defined on the geography that you belong to. If you happen to visit the UK or are on an exchange trip and ask a child to draw a trapezoid it is obvious they would be drawing it like a trapezium.
Coming to a trapezoid you may be able to draw it like a trapezium. In some parts of the world it is referred to as a trapezium and it is a form of quadrilateral where one pair of opposite sides would be parallel to each other.
The definition of a trapezoid
It is a four sided enclosed 2 d figure where there is an area along with a perimeter. A couple of sides of a trapezoid would be parallel to each other as it would be termed as the bases of the trapezoid. Coming to the non -parallel sides it is known as the lateral sides or legs of a trapezoid.
A shorter form of distance between the parallel sides is known as the altitude. As the opposite sides would be parallel to each other, arriving at the area of a trapezium is an easy task.
The properties of a trapezoid
There are some distinctive properties of a trapezoid that would distinguish it from other type of quadrilaterals.
- The bases which is the top and the bottom would be parallel to each other
- A median length would be an average of both the bases
- Angles next to each other sums up to 180 degrees
- An opposite side of a trapezoid ( an isosceles ) triangle would be of same length
- If both pairs of opposite sides tend to be parallel, it is considered to be a parallelogram
- If both the opposite sides are parallel, all the sides would be of equal length and it would be at right angles to each other. Then you may consider a trapezoid to be a square.
- If both the opposite sides turn out to be parallel, an opposite side may be of equal length and it is going to be at right angles to each other. Then you may consider a trapezoid in the form of a rectangle.
Trapezoid and their types
Mainly there are three types of trapezoids which are listed below
- Isosceles trapezium- if the non- parallel sides or legs of a trapezoid are equal in length then it is termed as an isosceles trapezium. The angles of the opposite sides that is the base would be equal to each other. It is having a line of symmetry as both the diagonals would be equal in length.
- Scalene trapezium- here neither the sides or the angles would be equal then it points to a scalene trapezium. Here all the four sides would be of different length.
- Right trapezoid- such a type of trapezoid would be having a pair of right angles. Such a type of trapezoid would be able to estimate the areas under the curve.
Coming to the perimeter of a trapezoid it is the sum of all the four sides. If A, B, C and D happen to be the four sides of a trapezium then the formula would be AB+ BC+ CD+ AD. Then to arrive at the area of trapezoid the following formula is to be used Area= ( AB+ BC) 2 * h. Here AB and BC are the parallel sides and H is the height. Cuemath is the platform where you may obtain considerable information about trapezoid. There are experts who would guide students at each and every step of your education journey. Also, they encourage students to take participate at various levels which always motivate the students.