ACT Math : Quadrilaterals

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ACT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #2 : How To Find An Angle In A Trapezoid

Given the following isosceles triangle:

Q1

In degrees, find the measure of the sum of  and   in the figure above. 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

All quadrilaterals' interior angles sum to 360°. In isosceles trapezoids, the two top angles are equal to each other.

Similarly, the two bottom angles are equal to each other as well.

Therefore, to find the sum of the two bottom angles, we subtract the measures of the top two angles from 360:

Example Question #1 : How To Find If Trapezoids Are Similar

Trapezoid A and Trapezoid B are similar. The bases of Trapezoid A are  and . Trapezoid B has a smaller base of . How long is the larger base of Trapezoid B?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Because the two trapezoids are similar, the ratio of their bases must be the same. Therefore, we must set up a cross-multiplication to solve for the missing base:

, using  as the variable for the missing base.

 

Therefore, the length of the longer base of Trapezoid B is .

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Area Of A Trapezoid

What is the area of this regular trapezoid?

Screen_shot_2013-03-18_at_3.27.27_pm                             

Possible Answers:

32

45

20

26

Correct answer:

32

Explanation:

To solve this question, you must divide the trapezoid into a rectangle and two right triangles. Using the Pythagorean Theorem, you would calculate the height of the triangle which is 4. The dimensions of the rectangle are 5 and 4, hence the area will be 20. The base of the triangle is 3 and the height of the triangle is 4. The area of one triangle is 6. Hence the total area will be 20+6+6=32. If you forget to split the shape into a rectangle and TWO triangles, or if you add the dimensions of the trapezoid, you could arrive at 26 as your answer.

 

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Area Of A Trapezoid

Trap

What is the area of the trapezoid above if a = 2, b = 6, and h = 4?

Possible Answers:

16

32

64

8

24

Correct answer:

16

Explanation:

Area of a Trapezoid = ½(a+b)*h

= ½ (2+6) * 4

= ½ (8) * 4

= 4 * 4 = 16

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Area Of A Trapezoid

Find the area of a trapezoid if the height is , and the small and large bases are  and , respectively.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Write the formula to find the area of a trapezoid.

Substitute the givens and evaluate the area.

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Area Of A Trapezoid

Trapezoid  has an area of . If height  and , what is the measure of ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The formula for the area of a trapezoid is:

 

We have here the height and one of the bases, plus the area, and we are being asked to find the length of base . Plug in known values and solve.

Thus, 

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Area Of A Trapezoid

Find the area of a trapezoid given bases of length 6 and 7 and height of 2.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To solve, simply use the formula for the area of a trapezoid.

Substitute 

into the area formula.

Thus,

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Length Of The Diagonal Of A Trapezoid

Suppose the lengths of the bases of a trapezoid are 1 and 5 respectively.  The altitude of the trapezoid is 4.  What is the diagonal of the trapezoid?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The altitude of the trapezoid splits the trapezoid into two right triangles and a rectangle. Choose one of those right triangles. The base length of that right triangle is necessary to solve for the diagonal.

Using the base lengths of the trapezoid, the length of the base of the right triangle can be solved.  The length of the rectangle is 1 unit.  The longer length of the trapezoid base is 5 units.  

Since there are 2 right triangles bases that lie on the longer base of the trapezoid, we will assume that their base lengths are  since their lengths are unknown. Combining the lengths of the right triangles and the rectangle, write the equation to solve for the length of the right triangle bases.

The length of each triangular base is 2.  

The diagonal of the trapezoid connects from either bottom angle of the trapezoid to the far upper corner of the rectangle.  This diagonal connects to form another right triangle, where the sum of the solved triangular base and the rectangle length is a leg, and the altitude of the trapezoid is another leg.

Use the Pythagorean Theorem to solve for the diagonal.

 

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Length Of The Diagonal Of A Trapezoid

Q11

If the height of the trapezoid above is  units, what is the length of the diagonal ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the diagonal, we must subtract the top base from the bottom base:

This leaves us with 4, which is the sum of the distance to the left and right of the top base. Taking half of thatgives us the length of the distance to only the left side. 

This means that the base of a triangle that includes that diagonal is equal to

.

Since the height is , we can solve this problem either using the Pythagorean Theorum or by remembering that this is a special right triangle ( triangle). Therefore, the hypotenuse is

See the figure below for clarification:

E11

Example Question #3 : How To Find The Length Of The Diagonal Of A Trapezoid

A trapezoid has bases of length and and side lengths of and . What is the upper non-inclusive limit of the trapezoid's diagonal length?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The upper limit of a trapezoid's diagonal length is determined by the lengths of the larger base and larger side because the larger base, larger side and longest diagonal form a triangle, meaning you can use a triangle's side length rule.

Specifically, the non-inclusive upper limit will be the sum of the larger base and larger side.

In this case, , meaning that the diagonal length can go up to but not including .

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