SAT Math : How to find an angle in a polygon

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Math

varsity tutors app store varsity tutors android store varsity tutors ibooks store

Example Questions

Example Question #11 : How To Find An Angle In A Polygon

To the nearest whole degree, give the measure of each interior angle of a regular polygon with 17 sides.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The measure of each interior angle of an -sided polygon can be calculated using the formula

Setting :

The correct choice is therefore .

Example Question #12 : Other Polygons

Each interior angle of a regular polygon has measure . How many sides does the polygon have?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The easiest way to work this is arguably to examine the exterior angles, each of which forms a linear pair with an interior angle. If an interior angle measures , then each exterior angle, which is supplementary to an interior angle, measures

The measures of the exterior angles of a polygon, one per vertex, total ; in a regular polygon, they are congruent, so if there are  such angles, each measures . Since the number of vertices is equal to the number of sides, if we set this equal to  and solve for , we will find the number of sides.

Multiply both sides by :

The polygon has 72 vertices and, thus, 72 sides.

Example Question #381 : Plane Geometry

A regular polygon has a measure of  for each of its internal angles.  How many sides does it have?

 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To determine the measure of the angles of a regular polygon use:

Angle = (n – 2) x 180° / n

Thus, (n – 2) x 180° / n = 140°

180° n - 360° = 140° n

40° n = 360°

n = 360° / 40° = 9

Example Question #93 : Plane Geometry

A regular seven sided polygon has a side length of 14”.  What is the measurement of one of the interior angles of the polygon?

Possible Answers:

154.28 degrees

180 degrees

252 degrees

257.14 degrees

128.57 degrees

Correct answer:

128.57 degrees

Explanation:

The formula for of interior angles based on a polygon with a number of side n is:

Each Interior  Angle = (n-2)*180/n

= (7-2)*180/7 = 128.57 degrees

Learning Tools by Varsity Tutors