Solving for the Area and Volume of Regular and Irregular Polygons

There are preset formulas to calculate the area of each regular polygon. The current methods present the student with a multitude of formulas to memorize. What if there were a method to find the area and hence the volume of any polygon regular or irregular? Herons formula is suggested as a one method does them all. Notice that any polygon can be sectioned into triangular shapes(Graphic 1). For this specific example the point A
(Graphic 2) Graphic 1

is used as a

reference point to section the irregular octagon into six triangles. Since Herons formula makes use of the length of each side of a triangle, we will use the distance formula to find the length of each. It is worth noting that the
Graphic 3

distance formula is based on

the right triangle and as such the Pythagorean Theorem. There is the need, then, to superimpose a point this ( . The length of the segment to do

measured in centimeters, is the hypotenuse of the right triangle A Therefore the segment length . Continuing on, we can find the perimeter of the triangle
(Graphic 3)

(Graphic 2)

. In order to use Herons formula we need to find

(the semi perimeter) where

Graphic 2

. Herons formula uses in the formula this, we can solve for the area of all six triangles using s.
(Graphic 4)

. Following

and so

Calculating the volume is the simple consideration given to an additional dimension. Take, for instance, the irregular octagon in Graphic 2. The triangle ABC was found to have an area of . By adding

the length, 42.0 cm(Graphic 4), as the last dimension needed for the volume we get . Further the volume of each triangle is listed in Graphic 4 to the left. The volume of the entire polygon is In the generalized cases of all types of polygons, this method can be used. Think about how useful it would be to be able to teach area and volume calculations with one main method. While formulas for regular polygons are still useful to students; it is beneficial to
Graphic 4

have one method that is useful for the forms of

polygons. As the number of sides that any given polygon has increases, Herons formula steps forward to handle the challenge. The accuracy of this method is limited when using smaller values. Measurements that are less than one, , should not be used because of the squaring and the addition of that number in the distance formula. Measurements between one and five are somewhat inaccurate while large numbers are ideal. There are two ways to overcome this: 1) use smaller units of measure, and 2) use larger polygon as the sample case. Please find and enjoy the geometry study guide supplements offered by the mathematics group at the American Book Company. Thanks, Melvin Carter
Mathematician American Book Company

Geometric images were created using Googles Sketchup.