We explain what geometric figures are and the ways in which they can be classified. In addition, some examples of these figures.
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What is a geometric figure?
A geometric figure is the visual and functional representation of a non-empty and closed set of points in a geometric plane. That is, figures that delimit flat surfaces through a set of lines (sides) that join their points in a specific way. Depending on the order and number of these lines we will talk about one figure or another.
Geometric figures are the work of geometry , a branch of mathematics that studies representational planes and the relationships between the forms we can imagine in them. These are, therefore, abstract objects, according to which our perspective and our way of spatially understanding the universe around us are determined.
You can classify the geometric figures according to their shape and number of sides, but also based on the number of dimensions represented, being able to talk about:
- Dimensional figures (0 dimensions) . It basically refers to the point.
- Linear figures (1 dimension) . These are the lines and the curves, that is, lines with some orientation and determined path.
- Flat figures (2 dimensions) . Polygons, planes and surfaces, which lack depth but have a measurable length and width.
- Volumetric figures (3 dimensions) . Three-dimensional figures add depth and perspective to the matter, and can be considered geometric bodies, such as polyhedra and solids in revolution.
- N-dimensional figures (n-dimensions) . These are theoretical abstractions endowed with n appreciable dimensions.
We should note that to define the geometric figures , abstractions such as the point, the line and the plane are often used , which are in turn considered geometry figures.
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Examples of geometric figures
Some examples of geometric figures are:
- Triangles . Flat figures characterized by having three sides, that is, three lines in contact forming three vertices. Depending on the type of angle they build, they can be equilateral triangles (three equal sides), isosceles (two equal and one different) or scalenes (all unequal).
- Squares . These flat figures are always identical in proportion but not in size, having four sides necessarily of the same length. Its four angles will then be right angles (90 °).
- Rhombus s . Similar to the square, they have four identical sides in contact, but none constitute right angles, but acute and two obtuse.
- Circumferences . It is a flat and closed curve on itself, in which any chosen point of the line is at the same identical distance from the center (or axis). It could be called a perfect circle.
- Ellipses . Closed curves similar to the circumference, but with two axes or centers instead of one, generating a flattened or elongated spheroid, depending on whether it revolves around its minor or major axis, respectively.
- Pyramids . Three-dimensional geometric bodies formed by a quadrangular base and four isosceles triangles that act as sides.
