Square – The Basic Shape

You encounter many things that resemble the square shape when you look around. Some common examples of the square include craft papers, a chessboard, a photo frame, bread slices, a pizza box, a wall clock, etc. In this article, let us understand the square shape and its characteristics in detail.

What Is a Square?

A square in geometry is a plane figure with four right angles and four equal sides. All four sides are parallel to each other.

Square Definition

A square is a quadrilateral with four equal sides and four equal angles that measure 90 degrees.

Square and Rhombus Difference

A square and a rhombus are quadrilaterals with four sides. Although similar, there are some critical differences between them:

Shape

A square is a type of rectangle with four equal sides, so it has four right angles. On the contrary, a rhombus is a parallelogram with four equivalent sides but no right angles.

Diagonal Length

In a rhombus, the length of the diagonals is not the same, and they bisect each other at 90 degrees. The length of both diagonals of the square is the same and is equal to the length of a side of the square.

Symmetry

A square has rotational symmetry of 90 degrees, 180 degrees, and 270 degrees and reflectional symmetry across its vertical and horizontal axes. A rhombus only has reflectional symmetry across its diagonals.

Area

The formula for calculating the area of a square is side squared, while the formula for calculating the area of a rhombus is (d1 * d2)/2, where d1 and d2 are the lengths of the diagonals.

In conclusion, while a square and a rhombus share some similarities, they are distinct shapes with different properties and characteristics.

Square Properties

A square is a geometric shape that has four equal sides and four right angles. Here are some properties of a square:

1. All sides of a square are equal in length.
2. A square’s perimeter can be identified by multiplying the length of one side by four.
3. All angles in a square are right angles.
4. Squaring the length of one side gives the area of the square.
5. The length of the diagonal of a square is equal to the square root of 2 times the length of one side.

These properties make squares useful in many areas, such as architecture, engineering and design.

Difference between a Square and a Rectangle

The significant difference between a square and a rectangle is that a square has all its sides equal, while a rectangle has only its opposite sides equal. Some other major differences between a square and a rectangle include the following:

1. The diagonals of a square are perpendicular bisectors of each other, while the diagonals of a rectangle are not perpendicular bisectors.
2. The area of a square can be found using the following formula (Area = Side2), and the area of a rectangle can be identified using the formula ( Area = Length * Breadth).

The formula to find the perimeter of the square is 4 x (side length). The formula to find the perimeter of the rectangle is 2(Length+Breadth).