How to Identify a Rectangle and a Square
Do you know what quadrilaterals are? Quadrilaterals are everywhere! Can you see any around you? A window or the front of your TV are great examples of quadrilaterals, as they are squares and rectangles.
In this video and in the following text, you will learn the definition and properties of a rectangle in geometry. In addition, you will learn the definition and properties of a square.
What Are Quadrilaterals?
A quadrilateral is a polygon with four straight sides. Any four sided shape you can think of is a quadrilateral. Is a rectangle shape a polygon that is a quadrilateral? Yes, it is! What about a square? It has four sides, so it is a quadrilateral too. Rectangles and squares are both a type of quadrilateral.
Shapes can be identified by their attributes or properties, as you will see below.
What Is a Rectangle?
Per definition, a rectangle is a polygon that has four straight sides.
It is a quadrilateral because it has four sides. How many vertices does a rectangle have? The sides of a rectangle meet at a 90 degree angle, known as a right angle, and there are four of them. How many pairs of parallel sides does a rectangle have? A rectangle has two pairs of parallel sides that are equal in length.
Properties of a Rectangle
So what does a rectangle actually look like? On the infographic below you can see a rectangle outline.
Rectangles have two pairs of opposite sides which are equal in length. They also have four right angles.
What Is a Square?
According to its definition, a square is a polygon that has four straight sides that are all equal in length.
It is a quadrilateral because it has four sides. How many vertices does a rectangle have? Just like the rectangle, the sides of a square meet at a 90 degree angle – as you now know the right angle – and there are also four of them. And how many pairs of parallel sides does a square have? A square also has two pairs of parallel sides that are all equal in length.
Properties of a Square
So what does a square look like? On the infographic below you can see a square outline.
Just like the rectangle, a square has four right angles. It also has two pairs of opposite sides, but they are all equal in length.
Summary of Rectangles and Squares
Rectangles and squares are both shapes that are quadrilaterals. Both of them have four straight sides and four right angles. While they are similar in properties, the main difference between a rectangle and a square is that a square has sides that are all the same length.
| Properties of rectangles | Properties of squares |
|---|
| four straight sides | four straight sides |
| four right angles | four right angles |
| two pairs of opposite sides equal in length | all four sides equal in length |
Would you like to practice some more? You can find exercises and worksheets about rectangles and squares on this page. Just click on the button “start exercises”. Enjoy!
FAQs
Squares are quadrilaterals with 4 equal sides and 4 right angles. Rectangles are quadrilaterals with 2 pairs of opposite sides that are equal, and 4 right angles. Every square is a special type of rectangle because it has 2 pairs of opposite sides that are equal in length.
What is the difference between a quadrilateral a rectangle and a square? ›
In other words, a square is considered a quadrilateral or a 4-sided polygon. Since all the angles are of equal measure, it is considered an equiangular quadrilateral. Rectangle: A rectangle is a quadrilateral with four sides. The opposite side of a rectangle is parallel to each other.
What is a shape with 4 unequal sides? ›
An irregular quadrilateral is a shape with four sides of unequal lengths. The internal angles of both regular and irregular quadrilaterals are always 360 degrees. The only example of a shape that is considered a regular quadrilateral is a square.
What are the different types of quadrilaterals? ›
A quadrilateral is a two-dimensional shape with four sides. There are seven different types of quadrilaterals: parallelogram, rhombus, kite, rectangle, trapezoid, square, and isosceles trapezoid. Each type has different properties that they require in addition to having four sides.
Is a rectangle basically a square? ›
All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares. All squares are rhombuses, but not all rhombuses are squares.
Why is a quadrilateral not a square? ›
Answer and Explanation:
This is because by definition, a rectangle and a square have four square corners, so if a quadrilateral has no square corners, then it cannot be a rectangle or a square. As we said, a quadrilateral with no square corners could be a number of types of quadrilaterals.
What shape has four sides but not a square? ›
There are 6 different 4 sided polygons, or quadrilaterals that receive their own names. They are rectangles, squares, parallelograms, rhombuses, kites and trapezoids.
Is a square always a rhombus? ›
All squares are rhombuses. All rhombuses cannot be squares, because rhombuses are not always equiangular. The adjacent sides of the square are perpendicular to each other. The adjacent sides of the rhombus are not always perpendicular to each other.
What shape has 0 sides? ›
A circle has 0 sides and 0 vertices (corners).
What shape has no corners? ›
The geometric shape which has no corners is circle.
A circle has no corners.
A dodecagon is a 12-sided polygon. Several special types of dodecagons are illustrated above. In particular, a dodecagon with vertices equally spaced around a circle and with all sides the same length is a regular polygon known as a regular dodecagon.
Have two pairs of parallel sides.? ›
Parallelogram. Parallelogram is a quadrilateral with two pairs of parallel sides.
What is an arrowhead shape called? ›
Concave quadrilaterals
A dart (or arrowhead) is a concave quadrilateral with bilateral symmetry like a kite, but where one interior angle is reflex.
What are the 5 special quadrilaterals? ›
They are:
- Trapezium.
- Parallelogram.
- Rectangle.
- Rhombus.
- Square.
- Kite.
A quadrilateral is a square if all four internal angles are 90∘ and all four sides are equal in measure. The above is a rectangle, as all four angles are 90∘ , but is not a square, as the two vertical sides are shorter than the two horizontal sides.
What is the difference between a rectangle and a square? ›
The difference between a square and a rectangle is that a square has all equal sides, whereas, in a rectangle, the opposite sides are equal.
Is a quadrilateral a rectangle then is it also a square? ›
FALSE because not every rectangle is a square. Inverse: If a quadrilateral is not a square then it is not a rectangle.
How would you describe each quadrilateral square and rectangle? ›
Square is a quadrilateral with four equal sides and angles. It's also a regular quadrilateral as both its sides and angles are equal. Just like a rectangle, a square has four angles of 90° each. It can also be seen as a rectangle whose two adjacent sides are equal.
