A regular hexagon - Math Central

HOME

Math Central

Quandaries & Queries

Question from Martin, a teacher:

Given a regular hexagon with center on the origin of an x-y plane
with coordinate (r,0) on the x axis, we are to express the
coordinates of "A" located at 120 deg from (r,0) in terms of "r".

Hi Martin,
It is easiest to find the coordinates of A if you think of the hexagon as 6 equilateral triangles. Each side of these triangles are of length r. Since the y axis creates a 30-60-90 triangle where A is one of the vertices, it is pretty easy to find the remaining sides of the triangle. The length of these sides will help you find the coordinate point for A.

hexagon

Janice

Math Central is supported by the University of Regina and The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences.