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Lattice Point Polygons
Robert J. Reed, Brown Middle School, Newton, MA
- Plot the points A (1, 2), B (4, 6), C (8, 3), and D (5, -1)
on the grid shown here, and connect them to create
quadrilateral ABCD.
- What kind of quadrilateral is ABCD? Prove your claim.
(That is, show that ABCD is what you say it is.)
The coordinates of the vertices of ABCD were all integers, and
all of those integers were different.
- Using the same rules--only integer coordinates and,
for any one polygons vertices, no integer repeated--try
to make other polygons, like a right trapezoid, isosceles
trapezoid, scalene triangle, kite, and so on.
Your
work
will
be
judged
on
the
quantity,
quality,
appearance,
and
complexity
of
your
polygons,
and
on
how
clearly
you
show
how
you
know
what
each
polygon
really
is.
Hints
Hint for problem 2: You will need to show the lengths of the
sides. You will also need to show that at least one of the angles is a
right angle.
Hint for problem 3: You will need to show when sides are parallel
(have the same slope) or perpendicular.
Answers
Solutions
-
- Quadrilateral ABCD is a square. All four sides are
diagonals of 3×4 rectangles, so they are all 5 units long. By
rotating the 3 × 4 rectangles and noticing the effect on the
diagonals, or by comparing the slopes (
and - ) of the
sides of ABCD, we see that the sides are perpendicular.
- This is part of one students solution. One of the figures
can not be allowed, because it violates the rules.
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