Polygon
In geometry, a polygon is a plane figure that is bounded by a finite chain of straight line segments closing in a loop to form a polygonal chain (a closed chain or circuit).
Description
These segments are called its edges or sides.
The points where two edges meet are the polygon's vertices (singular: vertex) or corners.
The interior of the polygon is sometimes called its body.
An n-gon is a polygon with n sides.
A polygon is a 2-dimensional example of the more general polytope in any number of dimensions.
One type of polygon is a triangle and there are many others.
Applications
The basic geometrical notion of a polygon has been adapted in various ways to suit particular purposes.
Mathematicians are often concerned only with the bounding closed polygonal chain and with simple polygons which do not self-intersect, and they often define a polygon accordingly.
A polygonal boundary may be allowed to intersect itself, creating star polygons.
Geometrically two edges meeting at a corner are required to form an angle that is not straight (180°); otherwise, the line segments may be considered parts of a single edge; however mathematically, such corners may sometimes be allowed.
See also
- Boolean operations on polygons
- Complete graph
- Constructible polygon
- Cyclic polygon
- Geometric shape
- Golygon
- Hexagon
- Polyform
- Polygon soup
- Polygon triangulation
- Synthetic geometry
- Tiling
- Tiling puzzle
External links
- Polygon @ Wikipedia
