1

What is it?
The gures on the following page are inaccurate pictures of
quadrilaterals. They are marked so you know how they should
have been drawn:
Angles that have the same number of marks are denitely
supposed to be congruent (that is, their measures are equal).
If they have diering numbers of marks, they might not be
congruent (but still could be).
The same goes for markings on line segments. If they have
the same number of marks, they are congruent (they have
the same length). If they have dierent numbers of marks,
they might not be congruent (but still could be).
If line segments have the same number of arrows pointing
in the same direction, they are supposed to be parallel. In
gure 1, two sides are parallel and congruent.
All lines that look straight really are supposed to be straight.
For each quadrilateral, decide as specically as possible ex-
actly what the gure is. For example, saying that a gure is a
parallelogram is more specic than saying it is a quadrilateral.
A rhombus is more specic than a parallelogram. A square is
more specic than a rectangle, rhombus, or parallelogram.
A quadrilateral may be marked so that it is impossible to
construct accurately. In that case it is no real gure at all!
Be prepared to explain why you know your answer is correct
for each case.
Problems with a Point: August 22, 2001 c EDC 2001
What is it?: Problem 2
Problems with a Point: August 22, 2001 c EDC 2001
What is it?: Hints 1
Hints
Some people nd it helpful to redraw the gures, using the
markings as a guide.
Hint to problem 1. Draw a diagonal. What can you say
about the triangles formed?
Hint to problem 2. What do the two angle measures on
the right side of the gure tell you about two of the sides of the
quadrilateral?
Problems with a Point: August 22, 2001 c EDC 2001
What is it?: Answers 1
Answers
See solutions for justication.
1. Parallelogram
2. Rectangle
3. Kite (or simply quadrilateral) Some people consider the
denition of a kitea
quadrilateral with exactly two
distinct pairs of congruent
adjacent sidesto be
nonstandard.
4. Parallelogram
5. Rhombus
6. Rectangle
7. Rectangle
8. Rhombus
9. Impossible gure Teachers Note: For an
extension activity, students may
enjoy creating their own problems
and nding out what kind of
gure they create (if, in fact, the
gure is even possible.) Some
good discussion may emerge from
their work.
10. Parallelogram
11. Trapezoid
12. Rhombus
13. Isosceles trapezoid
14. Parallelogram
15. A 60

-120

rhombus
16. Square
Problems with a Point: August 22, 2001 c EDC 2001
What is it?: Solutions 1
Solutions
1. Draw a diagonal and prove the two triangles congruent
(SAS, using the single marked angle shown here). Then
two alternate interior angles are congruent (double marked
angles), so the two unmarked sides are also parallel. Thus
the quadrilateral has opposite sides parallel and is a par-
allelogram.
2. A pair of alternate interior angles (

1 and

2) are congru-
ent, making a pair of opposite sides parallel. Because op-
posite angles of a parallelogram are congruent, two supple-
mentary adjacent angles are congruent (

2 and

3). Thus
the angles are right angles and the gure is a rectangle.
3. The quadrilateral cant be a parallelogram because alter-
nate interior angles arent congruent. The congruent base
angles in the triangles make adjacent sides congruent. The
gure is a quadrilateral with two pairs of adjacent angles
congruent (sometimes called a kite).
4. The sum of the angles of a quadrilateral is 360 degrees.
Let each of a pair of congruent angles be x and each of
the second pair of congruent angles be y. Then 2x + 2y =
360 and so x + y = 180. So pairs of interior angles are
supplementary, and the opposite sides of the quadrilateral
are therefore parallel.
5. The base angles of the isosceles triangle are congruent.
This means that two alternate interior angles (

1 and

2)
are congruent, and so the marked opposite sides are paral-
lel. If opposite sides of a quadrilateral are congruent and
parallel, it is a parallelogram. Because two adjacent sides
are also congruent, this parallelogram is a rhombus.
6. The four congruent angles of the quadrilateral sum to 360

,
so the measure of each angle is 90

.
7. The quadrilateral is a parallelogram because its diagonals
bisect each other. The parallelogram is a rectangle because
its diagonals are congruent.
8. The marked sides are parallel because alternate interior
angles are congruent. The gure is a parallelogram because
two sides are congruent and parallel. The measures of the
double marked angles must sum to 180

, so the diagonals
are perpendicular. That means it is a rhombus.
Problems with a Point: August 22, 2001 c EDC 2001
What is it?: Solutions 2
9. The double marked angles are corresponding angles, so the
lowest side must be parallel to the diagonal going from the
lower left corner to the upper right. This is impossible.
10. Extend one of the parallel sides to form an exterior an-
gle (

1). This is alternate interior to one of the marked

interior angles (

2), and so its congruent to that angle.

However, it is also a corresponding angle to the remaining
marked interior angle. Since these angles are congruent,
the remaining two sides are parallel.
11. Two of the sides are parallel because two alternate interior
angles are congruent. If the two marked sides were parallel,
the gure would be a parallelogram and hence the sides
would be congruent. They arent congruent, and so the
sides cant be parallel. A quadrilateral with exactly one
pair of sides parallel is a trapezoid.
12. The two triangles are isosceles triangles with vertex angles
congruent. This means the remaining angles are congru-
ent, so the triangles are similar. They share a correspond-
ing side (the diagonal), so the triangles are also congruent.
That means all four sides are the same length, so this is a
rhombus.
13. The two isosceles triangles have congruent vertex angles,
and so their base angles are congruent. These form con-
gruent alternate interior angles with opposite sides, and so
these two sides are parallel. The two remaining two trian-
gles are congruent, but not in a way that causes alternate
interior angles to be congruent. The remaining two sides
are, therefore, congruent but not parallel, making the g-
ure an isosceles trapezoid.
14. The diagonals bisect each other, so this is a parallelogram.
15. The two isosceles triangles are equiangular, hence equi-
lateral. Congruent alternate interior angles make opposite
sides parallel. The fact that adjacent sides are equal makes
the parallelogram a 60

-120

rhombus.
16. Congruent corresponding angles (

1 and

2) make two
sides parallel; congruent alternate interior angles (

1 and

3) make the other sides parallel. The marked supplemen-

tary angles (

2 and

4) are congruent, so each measures
90

. Therefore the gure is a rectangle with adjacent sides

equala square.
Problems with a Point: August 22, 2001 c EDC 2001