9 Angles

In this chapter you will learn how to …

• apply basic angle facts to find unknown angles.
• use the angles associated with parallel lines to find unknown angles in a range
of figures.
• prove that the sum of angles in a triangle is 180°.
• use known angle facts to derive the sum of exterior and interior angles of  or more resources relating
F
polygons. to this chapter, visit GCSE
Mathematics Online.
• use angle facts and properties of shapes to justify and prove results.

Using mathematics: real-life applications

People who work in many varied and unrelated jobs
rely on an understanding of angles and spatial
relationships in their daily work. These include
designers, architects, opticians and tree surgeons
among others.

“I had to work quite carefully

with the 360 degrees around
the centre to place each of
the 32 pods correctly on the
London Eye.”  (Structural engineer)

Before you start …

Ch 1 You should be able to 1 Copy and complete.

use inverse operations a 180 2 96 5 b 180 2 5 116
to make 180 and 360.
c 173 1 5 360 d 360 2 55 2 97 5

Ch 5 You need to know 2 Use the marked properties to name each polygon as accurately as possible.
and apply the basic a b c
properties of triangles
45°
and quadrilaterals.

45° x y

3 What can you say about angles x and y in figure c? Why?

Ch 6 You need to know how 4 Measure the following angles.

to use a protractor to a b
measure angles.

154 © Cambridge University Press. This document is for personal use in accordance with our terms and conditions: gcsemaths.cambridge.org/terms
 9 Angles

Assess your starting point using the Launchpad

Step 1

1 Determine the size of angles a, b and c without measuring.

Give a reason for each answer.
a b A c
108°
39° 72° 68°
a
45° 24° b c
100°
b
Go to
B Section 1:
2 Is it possible for AB to be a straight line in diagram b? Angle facts
Explain your answer.

✓
Step 2

3 List three pairs of equal angles

in this diagram. a b
d c

e f
h g Go to
Section 2:
Parallel lines and angles
4 Under what conditions would angle c 5 f ?

✓
Step 3

5 Find the size of angle x. Give reasons. A

x B
Go to
Section 3:
C 112° Angles in triangles

✓
Go to
Section 4:
Angles in polygons

Find answers at: cambridge.org/ukschools/gcsemaths-studentbookanswers

155
GCSE Mathematics for OCR (Higher)

Section 1: Angle facts

Tip
Remember that an angle is formed when two lines meet at a point.
The length of the lines makes no side
difference to the size of the angle.

angle

vertex

Angles around a point

The sum of angles around a point is 360°.
A 90° angle is one quarter turn, two 90° angles are half a turn and so on.
There are four quarter turns around a point: 4 3 90° 5 360°.
You can use the fact that angles around a point add
up to 360° to make an equation which you can solve
to find the size of missing angles.
100° 140°
120°

Worked example 1

Find the size of x.

53°
87° x
140°

87° 1 53° 1 x 1 140° 5 360° When you use an angle rule

x 5 360° 2 140° 2 53° 2 87° to calculate a value, you must
state the rule you have used
(angles round a point)
alongside the equation in which
5 360° 2 280° you have used it.
5 80°

Angles on a straight line

Angles on a straight line add to 180°.

This is true for any number of angles which meet at a point on a line.

b
c
a b a d

90° 1 90° = 180° a 1 b = 180° a 1 b 1 c 1 d = 180°

You can use the fact that the angles on a line add up to 180° to make and
solve equations to find missing angles.

156 © Cambridge University Press. This document is for personal use in accordance with our terms and conditions: gcsemaths.cambridge.org/terms
 9 Angles

Worked example 2

Determine the size of x.

x
30° 50°

x 5 180° 2 30° 2 50° (angles on a line.)

5 100°

Vertically opposite angles

When two lines cross, or intersect, they form four angles.

The angles a and b are vertically opposite each other and the angles x and y
Key vocabulary
are vertically opposite each other.
Vertically opposite angles are equal. vertically opposite angles:
angles that are opposite one
a5b a
another at an intersection of two
x y
x5y b lines. Vertical here means ‘of the
same vertex or point’, not up and
down.
You need to know these angle facts:
Angles around a point add up to 360°.
Angles on a straight line add up to 180°.
Vertically opposite angles are equal.

Exercise 9A
1 Calculate the size of the missing angles.
a b c Tip
9°

42° 40° Angles can be acute (less than

x 33° 90°), obtuse (between 90° and
130° 87° 180°) or reflex (between 180° and
x 76° x
360°). A right angle is exactly 90°.
An angle of 180° is a straight line.

d What type of angle is x in each case?

2 Find the marked angles in each diagram.

Give reasons for any deductions you make.
a Find x and y. b Find x. c Find p.

x
x 1 20°
41° x 1 10° p
x 3p
10° y 2p

Find answers at: cambridge.org/ukschools/gcsemaths-studentbookanswers

157
GCSE Mathematics for OCR (Higher)

3 Explain why AE cannot be a straight line.

C D

65°
50° 59°
A E
B

4 Calculate the size of the marked angles in each diagram.

The lines are straight lines but the diagrams are not to scale.
Show your working and give reasons for any deductions you make.

y
a w z
43° b
c 47° 84°
x

5 Given that x 5 50° find the size of angle z.

x 1 20°
x
x – 10° z

6 Use the diagram to calculate the size of each angle given the following
conditions.

x y

a x 5 68° b x5a c x 2 b 5 112° d a 5 2x

7 Find the value of the variables in each figure. Give reasons for your
answers.
a b c
2x 1 10° y

120°
3x 2 10° 8x
4x

112° x x 1 18° z

158 © Cambridge University Press. This document is for personal use in accordance with our terms and conditions: gcsemaths.cambridge.org/terms
 9 Angles

“When I’m designing and making clothes I need

to be able to cut on the bias (at a given angle) and
also bisect angles to add darts and fit sleeves.”
(Fashion designer)

Section 2: Parallel lines and angles

Key vocabulary
A line intersecting two or more parallel lines is called a transversal.
When a transversal intersects with parallel lines, it creates pairs of angles. transversal: a straight line that
crosses a pair of parallel lines.
These angle pairs have particular properties.

a b
d c

e f
h g

Vertically opposite angles are equal, so

a5c b5d e5g f5h
Angles on a straight line add to 180° so
a 1 d 5 180° b 1 c 5 180° a 1 b 5 180° c 1 d 5 180°

Corresponding angles
Key vocabulary
Corresponding angles formed between 
a transversal and each parallel line are equal. corresponding angles: angles
that are created at the same
point of the intersection when
a transversal crosses a pair of
parallel lines.

When a transversal crosses two    

parallel lines, there are four pairs b c
of corresponding angles. h e

a d
g
f

Find answers at: cambridge.org/ukschools/gcsemaths-studentbookanswers

159
GCSE Mathematics for OCR (Higher)

The corresponding angle pairs are:

Tip a5b c5d e5f g5h
The F-shape that you can see is The pairs of corresponding angles form an F-shape because they are on the
what helps you identify the type same side of the transversal and on the same side of the parallel lines (either
of angle. both above, or both below).
F-shape 5 corresponding angles
The F can be facing back-to-front
as well.
Alternate angles

Alternate angles on opposite sides of the transversal on parallel lines are equal.
Key vocabulary They can be seen as a Z-shape.

alternate angles: the angles on

parallel lines on opposite sides of
a transversal.
a c

b d

When a transversal crosses two parallel lines, four pairs of alternate angles
are formed.

a b
d c

Tip
e f
The Z-shape you can see helps
h g
you to identify the pairs of
alternate angles.
Think A to Z: Alternate angles are
Z-shaped.
The Z can be facing back-to-front The alternate angle pairs are:
as well. a5g b5h c5e d5f

Co-interior angles
Key vocabulary
The angles inside the parallel lines and on the same side of the transversal
co-interior angles: the angles are called co-interior angles.
within the parallel lines on the
Co-interior angles are supplementary. E
same side of the transversal. A B
Read through this proof to see why. x
supplementary angles: two
angles are supplementary angles
if they add up to 180°. x 180° – x
C D
F

160 © Cambridge University Press. This document is for personal use in accordance with our terms and conditions: gcsemaths.cambridge.org/terms
 9 Angles

Prove that /BEF 1 /EFD 5 180°

Let /BEF 5 x
[ /EFC 5 x (Alternate angles are equal.)
/EFC 1 /EFD 5 180° (Angles on a line sum to 180°.)
[ /EFD 5 180° 2 x
/BEF 1 /EFD 5 x 1 180° 2 x 5 180°
So, /BEF 1 /EFD 5 180°

Summary of angle facts

This table summarises the facts you need to know about the angles
associated with parallel lines.

d b
x y c a a
180° – a

y x d b a 180° – a
c a

Alternate angles are equal. Corresponding angles are equal. Co-interior angles are supplementary.
Look for a Z-shape. Look for an F-shape. Look for a C-shape.

Tip

Remember, the Z, F and C shapes can be facing back-to-front as well.

Exercise 9B
1 Find the size of the missing angles a, b, c and d.
a

137°

c d
b

2 Given that the two poles are parallel

to each other, find the angle x that the
second pole makes with the incline
upwards.

100°

Find answers at: cambridge.org/ukschools/gcsemaths-studentbookanswers

161
GCSE Mathematics for OCR (Higher)

3 Find the size of the missing angles a, b and c.

a b

125°

4 Find the size of angles x and y.

50°
x

y
130°

5 Find the size of the missing angles.

a 42°
b c

d e
g f

6 Find the size of /CEG.

f
A B
58°

e
C E D

162 © Cambridge University Press. This document is for personal use in accordance with our terms and conditions: gcsemaths.cambridge.org/terms
 9 Angles

7 Find the size of /DCF. A D

G
36°

B E

8 Find the value of x.

a b

6x – 5° 80° – x

4x – 50°
x – 25°

9 Decide whether AB // DC in each of the following.

Give a reason for your answer.
B
B C
75° B
C

60° A
60° 108° 82° C
105°
A
A D
D
D

Section 3: Angles in triangles

In Chapter 5, you saw that when you tear off the interior angles of any
triangle and place them on a straight edge, they will form an angle of 180°. Tip
Tearing off the angles shows that the interior angles of a triangle add up to
180° but it is not a mathematical proof. Make sure you know the
differences between an
equilateral triangle, a right-
Angle sum of a triangle angled triangle, an isosceles
triangle and a scalene triangle.
To prove that the angles in a triangle add up to 180° you can construct a line Look back at Chapter 5 if you
parallel to one side of the triangle like this: need to revise the properties of
x y these triangles.
a a

b c b c

Find answers at: cambridge.org/ukschools/gcsemaths-studentbookanswers

163
GCSE Mathematics for OCR (Higher)

Once you have done that, you can prove that a 1 b 1 c 5 180° using
Tip mathematical principles.
x 1 a 1 y 5 180° (Angles on a line sum to 180°.)
Some other important angle facts
about triangles that you should But: x 5 b and y 5 c (Alternate angles are equal.)
learn are:
• all angles in an equilateral Substitute b for x and c for y and you prove that a 1 b 1 c 5 180°.
triangle are 60° (all angles are
Therefore the three angles of a triangle always add up to 180°.
equal and 180° 4 3 5 60°).
• the base angles in an isosceles
triangle are equal; this means The exterior angle is equal to the sum of the opposite interior angles
if you know one of the base
angles, or the third non-base In Chapter 5 you also saw that the exterior angle of a triangle is equal to the
angle, you can calculate the
other angles inside the triangle.
sum of the two opposite interior angles.
There are different ways to prove this using mathematical principles.
Read through the example to see how you can prove it using angles on a line
and the angle sum of triangles.

Worked example 3

Show that a 1 b 5 x, and therefore 

prove that the exterior angle a

of any triangle is equal to the

sum of the opposite interior
angles.
b c x

c 1 x 5 180° (angles on a line sum to 180°)

[ c 5 180° 2 x
a 1 b 1 c 5 180° (angle sum of triangle)
[ c 5 180° 2 (a 1 b)
But, c 5 (180° 2 x) (proven above)
So, 180° 2 (a 1 b) 5 180° 2 x
[a1b5x

You can now combine basic angle facts, angle facts related to parallel lines
and angle facts about triangles to find unknown angles in different figures.
Always give reasons for any statements you make based on known facts.

Exercise 9C
1 Calculate the size of the missing angles.
a b
x
40°

35°

c c

164 © Cambridge University Press. This document is for personal use in accordance with our terms and conditions: gcsemaths.cambridge.org/terms
 9 Angles

2 Find x and y.

62°

43° x y

3 Find a and b.

a 140°

4 Find x, y and z.

95°

50°
y

5 Work out the sizes of the angles marked a, b and c.

Give reasons to justify your answers.

c
b

48° a

6 Calculate x.
50°

3x + 10°

Find answers at: cambridge.org/ukschools/gcsemaths-studentbookanswers

165
GCSE Mathematics for OCR (Higher)

7 With reference to the figure below, show how you can prove that the
exterior angle of a triangle is equal to the sum of the opposite interior
angles by construction of CE // AB.
A
E
x

y z
B C D

8 Find the value of the angles marked with variables in each diagram.
Give reasons.
a b A B
50°
70°
x
35°
z
x

y
D C E

c d e A
D A

x 35°
40°

60°
110° C M N

40° z 295° x
A C B
B C B

Section 4: Angles in polygons

You learnt about polygons in Chapter 5. Remember:
A polygon is a plane shape with three or more straight sides.
Polygons are regular if all their sides and angles are equal.
Polygons are named according to how many sides they have: triangle (3),
quadrilateral (4), pentagon (5), hexagon (6), heptagon (7) and octagon (8).
These basalt columns are formed
naturally when lava cools.
The end faces are almost perfectly
hexagonal.

166 © Cambridge University Press. This document is for personal use in accordance with our terms and conditions: gcsemaths.cambridge.org/terms
 9 Angles

The angle sum of a polygon

You can divide any polygon into triangles by drawing in the diagonals from one vertex.
This allows you to use the angle sum of triangles to work out the sum of the interior
angles in a polygon.
This is a regular hexagon.

Key vocabulary
It has six interior angles which are all equal. interior angles: angles inside a
two-dimensional shape at the
The diagonals divide the hexagon into four triangles.  
vertices or corners.
2
3
1

So the sum of the interior angles of a hexagon is 4 3 180° 5 720°.

The hexagon is regular, so the six interior angles are equal in size.
720° 4 6 5 120°. So, each interior angle is 120°.
Work through the investigation in Exercise 9D to develop a rule for finding the angle
sum of any polygon.

Work it out 9.1

Three students attempted to calculate the size of interior angles in a regular pentagon.
Which is the correct solution?
What mistakes have been made by the other students?
Option A Option B Option C

1 4 1
2 3
1
2 5
2
3

There are three triangles within the There are five triangles in a There is a trapezium and a triangle
pentagon. pentagon. inside the pentagon.
3 3180° 5 540° 5 3 180° 5 900° 360° 1 180° 5 540°
Five angles in a pentagon. 900° 4 5 5 180° There are five angles inside the
540° 4 5 5 108° Interior angle 5 180°. pentagon including the central
360° which gives a total of 900°.
Each interior angle 5 108°.
Interior angle 5 900° 4 5 5 180°.

Find answers at: cambridge.org/ukschools/gcsemaths-studentbookanswers

167
GCSE Mathematics for OCR (Higher)

Exercise 9D
1 Draw the following polygons and divide them into triangles by drawing
diagonals from one vertex as with the hexagon above.

2 Predict how many triangles you could form if you did the same for a
10-sided and 20-sided polygon.

3 Copy and complete this table using your results from Questions 1 and 2.

Number of sides
in polygon
3 4 5 6 7 8 10 20

Number of
triangles
1 4

Angle sum of
interior angles
180° 720°

4 What is the relationship between the number of sides in a polygon and

the number of triangles you can form in this way?

5 If a polygon has n sides, how many triangles can you form in this way?

6 Write a rule for finding the angle sum of a polygon:

a in words. b in general algebraic terms for a polygon of n sides.

7 Use your rule to find the angle sum of a polygon with 12 sides.

8 How could you find the size of each angle of a regular 12-sided polygon?

The sum of exterior angles of a polygon

Look at the regular hexagon again.

Key vocabulary
You know that each interior angle is 120°.
exterior angles: angles produced By extending each side, we can form six exterior angles.
by extending the sides of a
Like this:
polygon.

60°
60° 120° 120°

60°
120° 120°
60°

120° 120° 60°

60°

168 © Cambridge University Press. This document is for personal use in accordance with our terms and conditions: gcsemaths.cambridge.org/terms
 9 Angles

There are six sides, so this produces six pairs of angles (one interior and one
exterior per pair) on straight lines.
The sum of angles on a straight line is 180°.
So, the sum of these six angle pairs is 6 3 180° 5 1080°.
But, you already know that the sum of interior angles is
180°(n 2 2) 5 180° 3 4 5 720°.
The sum of the interior and exterior angles is 1080°.
The sum of the interior angles is 720°.
So, the sum of the exterior angles of the hexagon is 1080° 2 720° 5 360°.
Now consider any polygon with n sides.
The sum of interior plus exterior angles can be found using 180n, where n is
the number of sides.
The sum of the interior angles can be found using 180(n 2 2) where n is the
number of sides.
So, for a pentagon, the sum of the exterior and interior angles would be
180° 3 5 5 900° because there are five sides.
The sum of interior angles is 180(5 – 2) 5 180° 3 3 5 540°.
The sum of the exterior angles 5 the sum of the interior and exterior angles –
the sum of the interior angles
5 900° – 540°
5 360° Tip
In general terms: Exterior angles of any polygon
Let I be the sum of interior angles. 5 360° or one complete turn.
For a regular polygon, the size of
Let E be the sum of exterior angles.
360
one exterior angle 5 ​​ ____
n ​​
I 5 180(n – 2)
where n is the number of sides.
I 1 E 5 180n
E 5 180n – 180(n – 2)
5 180n – 180n 1 360
5 360
You can use these rules to find the angle sum of any polygon.
If the polygon is regular, you can also calculate the size of each interior and
exterior angle.

Worked example 4

1 For a regular 10-sided polygon, find:

a the sum of the interior angles.
Angle sum 5 180(n – 2) 5 180(8) 5 1440° In a ten-sided
figure n 5 10.
b the size of each interior angle.

​​  1440
There are 10 interior angles, so one angle 5 ______  ​​ 5 144°
10
c the size of each exterior angle.
180° 2 144° 5 36° Continues on next page …

Find answers at: cambridge.org/ukschools/gcsemaths-studentbookanswers

169
GCSE Mathematics for OCR (Higher)

2 A polygon has an angle sum of 2340°. How many sides does it have?

2340 5 180(n – 2) Using the angle sum rule.

2340 ​​ 5 n – 2
​​ ______
180
13 5 n – 2
15 5 n
The polygon has 15 sides.
3 A regular polygon has an exterior angle of 18°. How many sides does
it have?
Sum of exterior angles 5 360
​​  360 ​​ 5 20
Number of angles 5 ____
18
[ Number of sides 5 20 The number of sides equals the
number of angles.

Exercise 9E
1 Calculate the sum of interior angles of a polygon with:
a 9 sides. b 17 sides. c 25 sides.

2 A regular polygon has 15 sides. Find:

a the sum of the interior angles. b the sum of the exterior angles.
c the size of an interior angle. d the size of an exterior angle.

3 A regular polygon has an interior angle that is 

three times the size of the exterior angle.
a What is the size of each exterior angle? x 3x

b What is the size of each interior angle?

c What is the name of the regular polygon?

4 Find the size of the missing interior and exterior angles x, y and z in this
irregular pentagon.

88°
z
x
y
83°

89°
63°

170 © Cambridge University Press. This document is for personal use in accordance with our terms and conditions: gcsemaths.cambridge.org/terms
 9 Angles

5 A pentagon has three angles that add up to 266° and two other angles
that are equal in size. Determine the size of each of the other two angles.

6 A hexagon has four angles with a sum of 555° and two unknown angles.
Given that one of the unknown angles is twice the size of the other, what
are their sizes?

7 Could a regular polygon have interior angles of 125°?

Justify your answer.

8 How many sides does a polygon have if the sum of interior angles is:
a 1620°. b 3060°.

9 The exterior angle of a regular polygon is 40°. What is the sum of its
interior angles?

Checklist of learning and understanding

Basic angle facts

Angles around a point sum to 360°.
Angles on a straight line sum to 180°.
Vertically opposite angles are equal.
Angles associated with parallel lines
Corresponding angles are equal.
Alternate angles are equal.
Co-interior angles sum to 180°.
Geometric proofs
Using properties of alternate and corresponding angles, you can prove
that the three interior angles of any triangle sum to 180°.
Using the angle sum of triangles and properties of angles at a line and at a
point, you can find the interior and exterior angles of any polygon.

Chapter review
 or additional questions on
F
the topics in this chapter, visit
1 Work out the size of the marked angle in each diagram. GCSE Mathematics Online.

a a
b c
58°

d e f
55° e

d
f
88°

Find answers at: cambridge.org/ukschools/gcsemaths-studentbookanswers

171
GCSE Mathematics for OCR (Higher)

2 If the interior angle of a regular polygon is 108° what type of polygon

is it?

3 Calculate p 1 q 1 r 1 s 1 t.

4 In this irregular hexagon, calculate the value of z.

58°

155°

135° z

162°

5 This diagram shows part of a regular polygon.

The interior angle is 144°.
Calculate the number of sides of the polygon.
What is the name given to this polygon?

144°

144°

6 Calculate the exterior angle of a regular 10-sided polygon.

7 Show mathematically why the sum of the exterior angles of any polygon
is 360°.

172 © Cambridge University Press. This document is for personal use in accordance with our terms and conditions: gcsemaths.cambridge.org/terms
 9 Angles

8 Find the value of x and y.

y + 50°

2y
65°

9 In the diagram ADE is a triangle.

BC is parallel to DE and DBA is parallel to EF.
A

Not to scale

F
B
125° C

x
D 80°
E

Work out angle x.

Give a reason for each step of your working.  (5 marks)
© OCR 2013

10 Prove that quadrilateral ABCD is a trapezium.

A B
2(2x + 1) (x – 2)

(5x – 2) 2(4x + 1)
D C

11 The sum of interior angles of an irregular polygon is 3600°.

a Determine the number of sides.
b Determine x, if half the angles in the polygon are size x and the other
half are size 2x.

Find answers at: cambridge.org/ukschools/gcsemaths-studentbookanswers

173