What is a hexagon? How many sides does a hexagon have? A hexagon is a closed two-dimensional shape composed of six straight lines. It has 6 sides, 6 vertices, and 6 interior angles. The name is made up of the words ‘hex’, which means six, and ‘gonia,’ which means corners. In this article, we will go over the hexagon shape in depth. Let’s get started!
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What is a hexagon?
Hexagons are 2-dimensional geometrical shapes with 6 sides that have the same or different length dimensions. A hexagonal floor tile, pencil cross-section, snowflakes, honeycomb, and other real-life examples of the hexagon shape can be observed. It may be a regular hexagon (with 6 equal side lengths and angles) or an irregular hexagon (with 6 unequal side lengths and angles).
Types of Hexagon
Hexagon shapes are classified into the following types:
- Regular hexagon
- Irregular hexagon
- Convex hexagons
- Concave hexagons
Hexagon classification is based on their sides.
What is a regular hexagon shape?
A regular hexagon 2D geometric polygon with 6 sides of equal length and 6 angles of equal size. It doesn’t have curved sides and all lines are straight. A regular hexagon’s internal angles total 720 degrees. There are 6 rotational symmetries and 6 reflectional symmetries in these shapes.
The image below depicts a regular hexagon:
A regular hexagon must include three characteristics:
- All hexagonal sides must be the same length.
- Each of the interior angles must be 120 degrees.
- When all of the interior angles are added together, they must equal 720 degrees.
Use these Hexagon Shape Worksheets to support your students develop a sixth sense for these 6-sided shapes.
Here is some interesting fact about regular hexagon:
A hexagon can be divided into 6 equilateral triangles. These will all be of the same size and will be able to be reassembled like a honeycomb. Tessellation occurs when we do this with a large number of hexagons.
What is an irregular hexagon shape?
An irregular hexagon also has 6 sides and 6 angles of varying lengths and sizes. This can result in some odd-looking shapes that you might not immediately recognize as hexagons. There are tons of ways to arrange six sides to form a hexagon.
Here are a few examples of irregular hexagons.
Hexagonal classification based on angles
Convex Hexagon
A convex hexagon is characterized by:
- Interior angles are smaller than 180 degrees.
- Angles with unequal lengths and sides
- There are no symmetrical lines.
- There are no inward pointed angles.
- The vertices are pointing outwards.
- It looks like a regular hexagon
Hexagon Concave
A concave hexagon always has:
- Angles greater than 180° are found in a concave hexagon.
- There is only one line of symmetry across its center
- At least an angle points inward.
Sides of a Hexagon
A hexagon has 6 sides, as shown in the diagram above. All of the edges are straight and create a closed shape. A regular hexagon has six equal sides, whereas an irregular hexagon has at least two sides that are different in length. The perimeter of the hexagon can be calculated by adding the sums of all six sides.
If the perimeter of a regular hexagon is given, we can determine the length of each side as “Perimeter 6”. For example, if the perimeter of a regular hexagon is 60 units, then each hexagon side is 60 ÷ 6 = 10 units long.
Read more >> What Is A Triangular Prism? Definition, And Properties Of Triangular Prism
Angles of Hexagon
The properties of hexagonal angles are as follows:
- Each hexagon includes 6 exterior and 6 interior angles.
- The total value of all hexagon angles is 720°.
- The total value of the exterior angles is 360°.
- All Irregular hexagon 2 angles are different in measurements.
- The measurement of each interior angle in a regular hexagon is 120°
- The measurement of each exterior angle in a regular hexagon is 60°
Diagonals of a Hexagon
A diagonal is a line segment that links 2 non-adjacent vertices of a polygon. The total of polygon diagonals is calculated by n(n-3)/2, where ‘n’ represents the number of polygon sides. The number of diagonals in a hexagon is calculated as 6(6 – 3)/2 = 6(3)/2, which equals 9. Three of the nine diagonals pass through the hexagon’s center.
In a hexagon, there are 2 kinds of diagonals: long diagonals (3 diagonals that pass through the center) and short diagonals. The formula ‘2s’ can be used to calculate the length of a long diagonal in a regular hexagon. And the length of a short diagonal can be calculated using the formula ‘3s,’ where s represents the length of each hexagonal side.
Properties of Hexagon
- The hexagon’s significant properties are as follows:
- It has a two-dimensional flat shape.
- It has 6 sides, 6 edges, and 6 vertices.
- Each side length is either equal or unequal in length. Not all hexagons include equal angles or sides.
- The total value of its internal angles is 720°.
- The total value of its external angles is 360°.
- A regular hexagon’s internal and external angles are all equal to 120° and 60°, respectively.
- Hexagons have 2 types of diagonals: one long and one short.
- A convex hexagon is similar to a regular hexagon. They have internal angles that are less than 180°.
- The opposite sides of a regular hexagon are always parallel to each other.
- To calculate the perimeter of a hexagon, sum up the lengths of all its sides.
- A hexagon can be easily divided into equilateral triangles (six).
- There are nine diagonals in total.
- Arbitrary hexagons are hexagons with unequal-length sides.
Where can I find hexagons in real life?
Do you believe that a specific shape, such as a hexagon, could appear in the world? Most shapes can be seen in everyday life if you take a closer look. Here are a few places you might come across hexagons.
- Honeycombs: Regular hexagons are 1 of 3 polygons that tesselate a plane, which means they can be duplicated indefinitely to fill a space with no gaps. When bees create honeycombs, they prefer hexagons. Always!
- Pencils: You may not have noticed, but regular pencils are hexagonal in shape. This is because it will save space when storing them, simplifies the process of to grip, and makes gluing 2 halves together easier when manufacturing them.
- Snowflakes: Did you realize that all snowflakes are hexagonal? When ice crystals form, the molecules align in a hexagonal pattern. Mother Nature has defined that this type of structure is the most efficient way for snowflakes to form.
- Saturn: You may be wondering what a planet has to do with hexagons. Isn’t a planet circular? You’re correct, but if you look at Saturn’s equator, you’ll notice a massive hexagon shape. It is even larger than the Earth! Scientists believe this is a massive storm with numerous pressure points. The gasses form a hexagon shape as a result of these points.
Hexagon FAQs
What are the various types of hexagons?
Hexagons are classified into four types. There are four types of hexagons: regular hexagons, irregular hexagons, concave hexagons, and concave hexagons.
How many sides does a hexagon have?
It is made up of six sides, six edges, and six vertices.
How many degrees are there in a hexagon?
The total value of a hexagon’s interior angles is 720°. All sides of a regular hexagon have the same length, and all interior angles are equal. As a result, each interior angle equals 720/6 = 120°. Thus, the interior angle in a regular hexagon is 120°.
Hope that with the above information, you can find the best way to help your kids grasp the answer to the question “How many sides does a hexagon have?” If you are planning to teach your kids about this essential topic, you can make your own collections of hexagon worksheets using our worksheet maker.
