We know the sum of the interior angles of a triangle is 180°. Show that the sums of the interior angles of polygons with 3, 4, 5, 6, … sides form an arithmetic progression. Find the sum of the interior angles for a 21-sided polygon
Given the sum of interior angles of a polygon having ‘n’ sides is given by (n – 2) × 180°
Sum of angles with three sides that is n = 3 is (3 – 2) × 180° = 180°
Sum of angles with four sides that is n = 4 is (4 – 2) × 180° = 360°
Sum of angles with five sides that is n = 5 is (5 – 2) × 180° = 540°
Sum of angles with six sides that is n = 6 is (6 – 2) × 180° = 720°
As seen as the number of sides increases by 1 the sum of interior angles increases by 180°
Hence the sequence of sum of angles as number of sides’ increases is 180°, 360°, 540°, 720° …
The sequence is AP with first term as a = 180° and common difference as d = 180°
We have to find sum of angles of polygon with 21 sides
Using (n – 2) × 180°
⇒ Sum of angles of polygon having 21 sides = (21 – 2) × 180°
⇒ Sum of angles of polygon having 21 sides = 19 × 180°
⇒ Sum of angles of polygon having 21 sides = 3420°