Kite and Dart - Geometry How to construct a kite in geometryĪ dart is also called a chevron or arrowhead. Cut or break two spaghetti strands to be equal to each other, but shorter than the other two strands.

Touch two endpoints of the short strands together. Touch two endpoints of the longer strands together. You have a kite! How to draw a kite in geometry Now carefully bring the remaining four endpoints together so an endpoint of each short piece touches an endpoint of each long piece.

Draw a line segment (call it KI) and, from endpoint II, draw another line segment the same length as KI. The angle those two line segments make ( ∠I) can be any angle except 180° (a straight angle).ĭraw a dashed line to connect endpoints K and T. This is the diagonal that, eventually, will probably be inside the kite. Line it up along diagonal KT so the 90° mark is at ∠I. Mark the spot on diagonal KT where the perpendicular touches that will be the middle of KT. Lightly draw that perpendicular as a dashed line passing through ∠I and the center of diagonal KT. If you end the line closer to ∠I than diagonal KT, you will get a dart. If you end the new line further away from ∠I than diagonal KT, you will make a convex kite.Ĭonnect the endpoint of the perpendicular line with endpoint T. Connect point E with point K, creating line segment EK. Notice that line segments (or sides) TE and EK are equal. You probably drew your kite so sides KI and EK are not equal. You could have drawn them all equal, making a rhombus (or a square, if the interior angles are right angles). The kite's sides, angles, and diagonals all have identifying properties. To be a kite, a quadrilateral must have two pairs of sides that are equal to one another and touching. This makes two pairs of adjacent, congruent sides. You could have one pair of congruent, adjacent sides but not have a kite. The other two sides could be of unequal lengths. Then you would have only a quadrilateral.

Your kite could have four congruent sides. Your quadrilateral would be a kite (two pairs of adjacent, congruent sides) and a rhombus (four congruent sides). If your kite/rhombus has four equal interior angles, you also have a square. Where two unequal-length sides meet in a kite, the interior angle they create will always be equal to its opposite angle. It is possible to have all four interior angles equal, making a kite that is also a square. The two diagonals of our kite, KT and IE, intersect at a right angle. In every kite, the diagonals intersect at 90°. Sometimes one of those diagonals could be outside the shape then you have a dart. That does not matter the intersection of diagonals of a kite is always a right angle.Ī second identifying property of the diagonals of kites is that one of the diagonals bisects, or halves, the other diagonal. They could both bisect each other, making a square, or only the longer one could bisect the shorter one.

Kite shape area