You'll Leorn

and i n g b a s i c
of geometry
ding basic
of geometry
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And Why Many constellationsare named after animals and mythological
G, *" foundationfor your. figures. It takes some imagination to connect the points representing
of geometry the stars so that the result is a recognizablefigure such as Leo the
Lion. There are many different ways to connectthe points. How
Whqt You'll Need many differentlines could be usedio connectall ten points?
i ruler

Ten major starsmakeup the

constellationcalled.Leothe
Lion.

Work in groups of three. Make a table and look for a pattern to

answerthe following questions
1. Put threepointson a circle.Now connectthe threepoints with as
many linesas possible.How many lines do you need?
2. Put four pointson anothercircle.How many lines can you draw
connectingfour points?

3. Repeat for five points on a circle and then for six points.
How many lines can you draw to connect the points?
4. Use inductivereasoningto tell how many lines you could
draw to connect the ten points of the constellation Leo
the Lion.

Bosic Terms
Since stars are so far away, they appear quite small to us.
We think of them as points even though they arg actually
quite large. In geometry, a point has no size. You can think
of it as a location. A'point is representedby a small dot and is
namedby a capital letter.All geometricfigures are made up of
points.Spaceis the set of all points.

5. Open-ended Namesomething in your classroom

thatis a
physicalrepresentation
of a point.
10
 You can think of a line as a series of points that extends in two
opposite directions without end. You can name a line by two
It points on the line, such as TE (read "line AB"). Another way to
{F {o'fr} name a line is with a single lowercase letter, such as line r.

6. Open-ended Describe some physical representationsof

lines in the real world.
7. Criticol Thinking Why do you think arrowheads
areusedwhendrawinga line or naminga line such
asTEt
8. Try This Name the line at the left in as many
ways as possible.

Points that lie on the same line are collinear.

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collinear points noncoilinear points

A plane is a flat surface that extends in all

directions without end. It has no thickness.
The points representing the
three towns on this map are
9. Open-ended Name three objects in your classroom that
co l l inear .
representplanes.

You can namea planeeitherby a singlecapitalIetteror by

naming at least three noncollinear points in the plane.

pl*ne P planeABC

In the diagram, each surface of the ice cube is part of a plane.

10.How many planes are suggestedby the surfacesof the ice

cube?

11. Try This Name the plane representedby the liont of the ice
cube in severaldifferentways.

Points and lines in the sameplane are coplanar.

l2.Try This Name a point that is coplanarwith the given

points.
a. E,F,G b. B,C,G
c. A,D,E d. D,C,G
13. Try This Name two lines thar are coplanar with IE and
DC.

11
 Bosic Postulotes
A postulate is an acceptedstatementof fact. You used some of the
following geometry postulatesin algebra.For example, when you
graphed an equation such as ! = -2x+8 , you began by plotting two
points and then you drew the line through those two points.

In algebra, one way to solve the following system of equationsis to

graph the two equations.

!=-2x+8
!=3x-7
As the graph shows,the two lines intersectat a single point. (3,2).
The solution to the system of equationsis -x= 3, ! = 2. This illustr:ates
the followingpostulate.

14. Open-ended Describe two planes in your classroom that

intersect. Also describethe intersection of the planes.

"' ri . ,.;;; .;;. ,i;,r.,,..,,"

15. a. Try This What is the intersection of plane HGFE and

plane BCGF?
b. What is the intersection of planeAEF and plane BCG?

A three-leggedstool will always be stable. as long as the feet of the

stool don't lie on a line. This illustrates the following postulate.

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 ffi\ Euctid is known for rrrf rl l rtrl rl tl l rrl l tl l l tl l l
k*#' compitingatt the I
.geometry of his time into Are points E, H, B, and C coplaaar? I

postulates and theorems. His :

Are points E. H, F. and B coplanar? I
masterwork The Elements (about I
300 B.C,) is the basisfor I
geometry books today. I
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Yes, the plane that contains No, points E, H, and F lie -

I
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the three noncollinear points in exactlyone plane. I
r
E, H, and B also contains C. which doesn't contain B. I
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