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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

  1. 1With the sum known, one unknown angle follows from a single linear equation in the others.
  2. 2Going the other way, a known interior-angle sum gives from .
  3. 3When the angles are all equal, the exterior-angle route is usually the faster one.
  4. 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. 1

    Why: A pentagon splits into three triangles.

  2. 2
  3. 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.

Builds on

Also known as

sum of interior angles, (n-2)180, polygon angle sum, exterior angle sum of a polygon, each angle of a regular polygon

Appears in past papers

2020 (II)

2020 (I)

2019 (I)

2018 (II)

2018 (I)

2017 (II)