Shape Formulas for Area (A) and Circumference (C)

A= bh = x base x height
Triangle

A = lw = length x width
Rectangle

A= (b1 + b2)h = x sum of bases x height

Trapezoid

A = bh = base x height
Parallelogram

Circle

Figure Formulas for Volume (V) and Surface Area (SA)

Rectangular Prism V = lwh = length x width x height

SA = 2lw + 2hw + 2lh
= 2(length x width) + 2(height x width) + 2(length x height)

V = Bh = area of base x height

SA = sum of the areas of the faces
General Prisms

V = Bh = area of base x height

SA = 2B + Ch = (2 x area of base) + (circumference x height)
Right Circular Cylinder

Square Pyramid

Right Circular Cone

Sphere

Equations of a Line Coordinate Geometr

Standard Form: Let (x1,y1) and (x2,y2) be two

plane.
Ax + By = C

where A and B are not both zero

Slope-Intercept Form:

y = mx + b or y = b + mx
where m = slope and b = y-intercept

Point-Slope Formula:

Distance Traveled Polygon Angle Formulas

d = rt Sum of degree measures of the interior angles

distance = rate x time of a polygon:

180 (n - 2)

Simple Interest
Degree measure of an interior angle of a regular
I = prt polygon:

interest = principal x interest rate x time

where n is the number of sides of the polygon

Formulas for Right Triangles Special Triangles

Geometry Formulas

Geometry is a subdivision of the subject mathematics that is all about shape, size,
the properties of space and relative position of figures. It was also predominant
many cultures of earlier times and has always been a practical way of calculating
lengths, areas, and volumes using geometry formulas.

Geometry is divided into two types: Plane Geometry and Solid Geometry. Plane
Geometry is for shapes such as triangles, circles, rectangles, square, geometry
formulas and much more. Solid Geometry deals with calculating the perimeter,
length, area, and volume of different geometric figures and shapes. It is also used
for calculating the arc length and radius, etc.

The main thing every student needs to know about this subject are the Geometry
Formulas. Geometry Formulas are crucial elements to calculate the perimeter,
length, area, and volume of geometric shapes and figures. There are loads of
geometric formulas that are concerned with height, length, width, radius,
perimeter, area, volume or surface area.

Many of the geometric formulas are quite complicated and there are some you
must have hardly ever seen. However, the basic geometry formulas are widely
used in our daily life to calculate the length, space and so on.

Basic Geometry Formulas

Perimeter of a Square = P = 4a Perimeter o fa Square = P = 4a

Where a = Length of the sides of a Square

Perimeter of a Rectangle = P = 2(l+b) Perimeter of aRectangle = P = 2(l+b)

Where, l = Length ; b = Breadth

Area of a Square = A = a2 Area of a Square = A = a2

Where a = Length of the sides of a Square

Area of a Rectangle = A = l×b Area of a Rectangle = A = l×b

Where, l = Length ; b = Breadth

Area of a Triangle = A = b× h2 Area of a Triangle = A = b×h2

Where b = base of the triangle; h = height of the triangle

Area of a Trapezoid = A = (b1+b2) h2 Area of a Trapezoid = A = (b1+b2) h2

Where, b1b1 & b2b2 are the bases of the Trapezoid; h = height of the Trapezoid
Area of a Circle = A = π×r2 Area of a Circle=A=π×r2
Circumference of a Circle=A=2πr Circumference of a Circle=A=2πr
Where, r = Radius of the Circle

Surface Area of a Cube=S=6a2 Surface Area of a Cube=S=6a2

Where, a = Length of the sides of a Cube

Surface Area of a Cylinder=S=2πrh Surface Area of a Cylinder=S=2πrh

Volume of a Cylinder=V=πr2h Volume of a Cylinder=V=πr2h
Where, r = Radius of the base of the Cylinder; h = Height of the Cylinder

Surface Area of a Cone=S=πr(r+h2+r2−−−−−−√) Surface Area of a Cone=S=πr(r+h2+r2)

Volume of a Cone=V=πr2h Volume of a Cone=V=πr2h
Where, r = Radius of the base of the Cone, h = Height of the Cone

Surface Area of a Sphere=S=4πr2 Surface Area of a Sphere=S=4πr2

Volume of a Sphere=V=43πr3 Volume of a Sphere=V=43πr3
Where, r = Radius of the Sphere

Types of Geometry Formulas and Rules

Angles and Lines

A right angle consists of 90 degrees. A straight line is made up of 180 degrees.

Take a look at this diagram; ADC is a straight line. Make sure that you don’t
confuse “straight” lines with “horizontal” lines. Any line that does not bend is
“straight,” irrespective of the direction. Also, a “horizontal” line is parallel to the
top or bottom of the page, parallel to the distant horizon. Line ADC is “straight”
but not “horizontal.”

Notice that the “straightness” is one of the very few things we can assume on the
GRE. It seems like there’s no bend in the line, then there’s no bend: i.e. if it looks
straight, it is straight. On the contrary, one cannot assume perpendicularity.

If two lines intersect, the sum of the resulting four angles equals 360°. In addition,
the angles opposite each need to be equal as they meet at just a vertex, so they are
called “vertical” angles.

If an angle AED equals 40°, then we will know the measures of the other three
angles: angle BEC would have to equal AED, so that would also be 40°, and the
other two angles would have to be the supplements of 40°. The supplement of an
angle is 180° minus the angle. Thus, angle AEB = angle DEC = 140°; two angles
that add up to 180° are supplementary. This way, all four angles add up to 360°.

There are a lot more angles when two parallel lines are intersected by a third
line. We get eight angles: four “big” angles and four “small” angles. There are a
number of technical names (“alternate interior angles”) that we don’t have to know
for GRE geometry. We just have to know that every big angle is equal, every
small angle is equal, and any big angle and any small angle are supplementary.
Lines are an important part of Geometry Formulas.

All Triangles – Geometry Formulas

A triangle is a shape that has three line segment sides.

Here are some facts about all triangles:

In any triangle, the sum of the three angles is 180°.

That’s the great idea that Mr. Euclid (c. 300 BCE), the great geometer, first came
up with. Take a look at another crucial geometry equation:

The letter b stands for the base: what’s the base of a triangle? Interestingly, any of
the three sides can be the base. Similarly, the letter h is height: by “height,” we
mean the length of a segment known as an altitude. An altitude is a line that passes
through a vertex and is perpendicular to the side we are considering the base. So,
for any triangle, we will have three different b & h combinations that would allow
us to calculate the area.

Of course, the GRE will not give you all that information, three side lengths, and
three altitudes, in the course of a geometry problem. If a GRE geometry question
is about the area of the triangle, it will also give a way to find at least one base and
the corresponding height. Don’t forget that the altitude divides the triangle into
two little right triangles, so the Pythagorean Theorem (below) may be involved in
finding some of the necessary lengths.
Isosceles Triangles – Geometry Formulas

The geometry rule about this last fact is about one elite category of triangles:
the isosceles triangles. These are triangles with two equal sides.

The angle between the two equal sides may be

(a) an acute angle (less than 90°), as in triangle ABD

(b) a right angle, as in triangle DEF, or

(c) an obtuse angle (greater than 90°) as in triangle KLM

If two sides are equal, then we know the opposite angles are also equal: in triangle
ABC, angle A = angle C; in triangle DEF, angle E = angle F; and in triangle KLM,
angle K = angle M. For that matter, Mr. Euclid figured out that this geometry rule
works both ways: if we are told two sides are equal, then we can conclude that two
angles are equal, and if we are told two angles are equal, we know two sides are
equal.

The line that goes down the middle of an isosceles triangle is special:
As we know, JKL and PQR are isosceles triangles, so the midline has many special
properties:

(a) it is perpendicular to the base: angle KML = angle QSR = 90°

(b) its lower point bisects the base: JM = ML and PS = SR

(c) it bisects the upper angle: angle JKM = angle MKL, and angle PQS = angle
SQR

These are some great geometry formulas and equations that can be associated with
isosceles triangles.

Right Triangles – Geometry Formulas

If there are right triangles with two sides touching the right angle, they are
called legs. The longest side, which is always opposite the right angle, is called
the hypotenuse.

The one important rule is applicable to all right triangles is theorem named for
Mr. Pythagoras (570 – 495 BCE), who is considered to be the first mathematician.
Take a look at the figure and you’ll notice that the side we call “c,” the side alone
on one side of the equation, has to be the hypotenuse. Also, we can use this
formula only when we know a triangle is a right triangle, and it’s futile to just
assume anything. If there’s the litter perpendicular square, then we can conclude
it’s a right triangle and we can apply this geometry equation.

Of course, many of these sides of a right triangle can be decimals, but only in
special cases, for all three sides to be integers. These are sets of three integers that
satisfy the Pythagorean Theorem. The most common is {3, 4, 5} and its multiples,
but other good ones to recognize are {5, 12, 13}, {8, 15, 17}, and {7, 24, 25}.

There are two important triangles we need to understand for GRE geometry.

The first is the 30-60-90 triangle:

The other triangle is the 45-45-90 triangle, also known as the Isosceles Right
Triangle.

Higher Polygons

A polygon is basically a closed figure that has three or more line-segment sides.
Here’s a chart for the names:
The sum of all the angles of the polygon is given by sum = (n – 2)(180°) for any n-
sided polygon. If a triangle has a sum of 180°, then any quadrilateral has a sum of
360°; any pentagon has a sum of 540°, and so on.

Another crucial idea is that of a regular polygon. This is tricky word as generally,
“regular” means ordinary, commonplace. But in geometry, it almost has the
opposite meaning. The regular polygons are one of the elite and symmetrical
shapes, having equal sides and all equal angles. The “regular triangle” is the
equilateral triangle, and the “regular quadrilateral” is the square. In a regular
polygon, we can divide this by the number of angles to arrive at individual angle
measures as we can compute the sum of the angles.

Of course, a regular octagon is the stop sign shape in many places around the
world.

As seen above, quadrilaterals consist of two diagonals. Pentagons have five, and
higher polygons have much more. The diagonals of the regular pentagon trace out
the standard five-pointed star, such as the stars on the flag of the United States of
America.
Three-Dimensional Shapes

A rectangular solid is primarily a box-shape with six faces that are rectangles, but
all the faces intersect at only right angles. Let’s assume that it has a height of h, a
length of l, and width of w. Then the calculation of volume and surface area would
be:

The surface area is nothing but the sum of the areas of the six rectangular faces.

In case, all the lengths of a rectangle solid are equal, then it’s called a cube. A
cube includes six congruent square faces which meet at right angles to each other.
Let’s say of the edge length is s, then

All kinds of 3D shapes that include a circle were discovered by Archimedes (287 –
212 BCE), including the sphere and the cylinder. The volume of a cylinder can
also be considered as the base times height, where the “base” is the area of the
circular base.

The sphere is the most symmetrical 3D shape.

V = 4/3πr^3

SA = 4πr^2

Coordinate Geometry – Geometry Formulas

A line in the coordinate plane can be described in a few ways: the most widely
accepted is the slope-intercept form:

y = mx + b
 The b is the y-intercept, it’s a place
where the line intersects the y-axis. The m is the slope. Slope indicates how tilted
a line is. A horizontal line has a slope of zero. A vertical line has an infinite
slope. A 45° line has a slope of m = 1. To find the slope between two points A &
B, draw a slope triangle:

When we do a rough sketch, then the slope is just a rise over run. There are
certainly a few ways to think about any slope.

A slope of m = +3 means any of the following:

(a) to the right one unit, up 3 units

(b) any multiple of (a) (e.g. right 7 units, up 21 units)

(c) to the left one unit, down 3 units

(d) any multiple of (b) (e.g. left 5 units, down 15 units)

A slope of m = – 5/3 means any of the following:

(a) to the right 1 unit, down 5/3 of a unit

(b) to the right 3 units, down 5 units

(c) any multiple of (b) (e.g. right 9 units, down 15 units)

(d) to the left 1 unit, up 5/3 of a unit

(e) to the left 3 units, up 5 units

(f) any multiple of (e) (e.g. left 18 units, up 30 units)

The geometry rules concerning slope are very important to remember.

To find the y-intercept, set x equal to 0 and solve for y.

To find the x-intercept, set y equal to 0 and solve for x.

That was all about Geometry formulas, folks.

In Focus : 3D Geometry

The Coordinate Geometry is a vast subject in the field of Mathematics. The expanse
of coordinate geometry is infinite as more and more dimensions are being discovered
in the real world. However, we now limit our studies upto only three dimensions.
This article will deal with all the basics to charge you up for 3D Geometry!

The topic of 3D geometry is quite important and a bit complicated as compared to

its counterpart two dimensional geometry. One of the ways of describing a 3D object
is by approximating or assuming its shape as a mesh of triangles. A triangle is
generally defined by three vertices wherein the positions of the vertices are described
by the coordinates x, y and z. The major heads that are included in 3D coordinate
geometry are the direction ratios and direction cosines of a line segment along with
definitions of the plane.

Direction Cosines of a Line Segment

The direction cosines are the cosines of the angles between a line and the coordinate
axis. If we have a vector (a, b, c) in three dimensional space, then the direction
cosines of the vector are defined as
 cos α = a/ √(a2 + b2 + c2), cos β = b/ √(a2 + b2 + c2), cos γ = c/ √(a2 + b2 + c2)

Direction Ratios

If l, m and n are the direction cosines then the direction ratios say a, b and c are given
by

l = ± a/√ Σa2, m = ± b/√ Σa2, n = ± c/√ Σa2.

Points to remember:

 While the direction cosines of a line segment are always unique, the direction
ratios are never unique and in fact they can be infinite in number.
 If the direction cosines of a line are l, m and n then they satisfy the relation l2 + m2 +
n2 = 1.

 If the direction cosines of a line segment AB are (l, m, n) then those of line BA will
be (-l, -m, -n).
Angle Between Two Lines

Let us assume that θ is the angle between the two lines say AB and AC whose
direction cosines are l1, m1 and n1 and l2, m2 and n2 then

cos θ = l1l2 + m1m2 + n1n2

Also if the direction ratios of two lines a1, b1 and c1 and a2, b2 and c2then the angle
between two lines is given by

cos θ = (a1a2 + b1b2 + c1c2)/ √( a12 + b12 + c12) . √ (a22 + b22 + c22)

Then what is the Condition for Parallel or Perpendicular Lines?

When the two lines are perpendicular, the angle between the lines is 90° which gives
the condition of perpendicularity as

l1l2 + m1m2 + n1n2 = 0

or this implies a1a2 + b1b2 + c1c2 = 0.

Similarly, when the two lines are parallel, the angle between them i.e. θ = 0.

This gives l1/l2 = m1/m2 = n1/n2

This also gives a1/a2 = b1/b2 = c1/c2

Projection of a line segment on a given line

Suppose we have a line segment joining the points P (x1, y1, z1) and Q(x2, y2, z2), then
the projection of this line on another line having direction cosines as l, m, n is AB
= l(x2-x1) + m(y2-y1) + n(z2-z1).

Plane

A plane is a flat, two-dimensional surface that extends infinitely far. A plane is the
two-dimensional analogue of a point(zero dimensions), a line(one dimension) and
three-dimensional space. A plane in three-dimensional space has the equation

ax + by + cz + d = 0

where at least one of the numbers and must be non-zero. A plane in the 3D coordinate
space is determined by a point and a vector that is perpendicular to the plane.

A plane in the 3D coordinate space is determined by a point and a vector that is

perpendicular to the plane. Let P0 = (xo,yo,zo) be the point given, and n the orthogonal
vector. Also, let P = (x,y,z) be any point in the 3D space, and r and ro the position
vectors of the points P and Po respectively. Now, if we let n = (a,b,c) then
since PoP is perpendicular to n we have
Hope this article on 3D Geometry helps with your preparation. You can check out
vectors here to help with your prep work. All the best!