Formula
Interior and exterior angle sums of a polygon
Geometry • Polygon • Interior and Exterior Angles
Formula
The interior angles of a convex polygon with sides add to , because diagonals from one vertex cut it into triangles; the exterior angles, one at each vertex, add to whatever is. For a regular -gon each interior angle is therefore and each exterior angle .
How to use it
- 1With the sum known, one unknown angle follows from a single linear equation in the others.
- 2Going the other way, a known interior-angle sum gives from .
- 3When the angles are all equal, the exterior-angle route is usually the faster one.
- 4For a hexagon the sum is , for a pentagon , for a quadrilateral .
Worked example
Four angles of a pentagon are , , and . Find the fifth.
Step-by-step
- 1
Why: A pentagon splits into three triangles.
- 2
- 3
Answer
Watch out
Confusing the two sums is the standard error: the interior sum grows with while the exterior sum is always , and using instead of overshoots by a full . The interior formula assumes a simple polygon; a reflex angle is still counted as the interior angle at that vertex, which is what keeps it true for non-convex simple polygons as well.