geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...

, an equilateral polygon is a

polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed '' polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two ...

which has all sides of the same length. Except in the

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- colline ...

case, an equilateral polygon does not need to also be equiangular (have all angles equal), but if it does then it is a

regular polygon In Euclidean geometry, a regular polygon is a polygon that is direct equiangular (all angles are equal in measure) and equilateral (all sides have the same length). Regular polygons may be either convex, star or skew. In the limit, a sequence ...

. If the number of sides is at least five, an equilateral polygon does not need to be a

convex polygon In geometry, a convex polygon is a polygon that is the boundary of a convex set. This means that the line segment between two points of the polygon is contained in the union of the interior and the boundary of the polygon. In particular, it is a ...

: it could be

concave Concave or concavity may refer to: Science and technology * Concave lens * Concave mirror Mathematics * Concave function, the negative of a convex function * Concave polygon, a polygon which is not convex * Concave set In geometry, a subset o ...

or even self-intersecting.

Examples

All

s and edge-transitive polygons are equilateral. When an equilateral polygon is non-crossing and

cyclic Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in so ...

(its vertices are on a circle) it must be regular. An equilateral

quadrilateral In geometry a quadrilateral is a four-sided polygon, having four edges (sides) and four corners (vertices). The word is derived from the Latin words ''quadri'', a variant of four, and ''latus'', meaning "side". It is also called a tetragon, ...

must be convex; this polygon is a

rhombus In plane Euclidean geometry, a rhombus (plural rhombi or rhombuses) is a quadrilateral whose four sides all have the same length. Another name is equilateral quadrilateral, since equilateral means that all of its sides are equal in length. The ...

(possibly a

square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...

). A convex equilateral pentagon can be described by two consecutive angles, which together determine the other angles. However, equilateral pentagons, and equilateral polygons with more than five sides, can also be concave, and if concave pentagons are allowed then two angles are no longer sufficient to determine the shape of the pentagon. A

tangential polygon In Euclidean geometry, a tangential polygon, also known as a circumscribed polygon, is a convex polygon that contains an inscribed circle (also called an ''incircle''). This is a circle that is tangent to each of the polygon's sides. The dual pol ...

(one that has an

incircle In geometry, the incircle or inscribed circle of a triangle is the largest circle that can be contained in the triangle; it touches (is tangent to) the three sides. The center of the incircle is a triangle center called the triangle's incenter. ...

tangent to all its sides) is equilateral if and only if the alternate angles are equal (that is, angles 1, 3, 5, ... are equal and angles 2, 4, ... are equal). Thus if the number of sides ''n'' is odd, a tangential polygon is equilateral if and only if it is regular.

Measurement

Viviani's theorem generalizes to equilateral polygons: The sum of the perpendicular distances from an interior point to the sides of an equilateral polygon is independent of the location of the interior point. The ''principal diagonals'' of a

hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A '' regular hexagon'' has ...

each divide the hexagon into quadrilaterals. In any convex equilateral hexagon with common side ''a'', there exists a principal diagonal ''d''₁ such that''Inequalities proposed in “

Crux Mathematicorum ''Crux Mathematicorum'' is a scientific journal of mathematics published by the Canadian Mathematical Society. It contains mathematical problems for secondary school and undergraduate students. , its editor-in-chief is Kseniya Garaschuk. The journ ...

”''

p.184,#286.3. :

\frac \leq 2

and a principal diagonal ''d''₂ such that :

\frac > \sqrt

Optimality

When an equilateral polygon is inscribed in a

Reuleaux polygon In geometry, a Reuleaux polygon is a curve of constant width made up of circular arcs of constant radius. These shapes are named after their prototypical example, the Reuleaux triangle, which in turn, is named after 19th-century German engineer ...

, it forms a

Reinhardt polygon In geometry, a Reinhardt polygon is an equilateral polygon inscribed in a Reuleaux polygon. As in the regular polygons, each vertex of a Reinhardt polygon participates in at least one defining pair of the diameter of the polygon. Reinhardt pol ...

. Among all convex polygons with the same number of sides, these polygons have the largest possible

perimeter A perimeter is a closed path that encompasses, surrounds, or outlines either a two dimensional shape or a one-dimensional length. The perimeter of a circle or an ellipse is called its circumference. Calculating the perimeter has several pr ...

for their

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid f ...

, the largest possible

width Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...

for their diameter, and the largest possible width for their perimeter.

References

External links

*
Equilateral triangle
With interactive animation
A Property of Equiangular Polygons: What Is It About?
a discussion of Viviani's theorem at

Cut-the-knot Alexander Bogomolny (January 4, 1948 July 7, 2018) was a Soviet-born Israeli-American mathematician. He was Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of Iowa, and formerly research fellow at the Moscow Institute of Electronics and Math ...

. Types of polygons {{polygons