Isosceles Trapezoid Diagonal Properties Practice Problems

Let's recall that in an isosceles trapezoid, the sum of the two angles on each of the trapezoid's legs equals 180 degrees.

In other words:

$A+C=180$

$B+D=180$

Since angle D is known to us, we can calculate:

$180-50=B$

$130=B$

To solve this problem, we'll follow these steps:

• Step 1: Define the geometric properties of a trapezoid.
• Step 2: Define the geometric properties of an isosceles trapezoid.
• Step 3: Conclude whether an isosceles trapezoid has two pairs of parallel sides based on these definitions.

Now, let's work through each step:
Step 1: A trapezoid is defined as a quadrilateral with at least one pair of parallel sides.
Step 2: An isosceles trapezoid is a special type of trapezoid where the non-parallel sides (legs) are of equal length. Its defining feature is having exactly one pair of parallel sides, which is the same characteristic as a general trapezoid.
Step 3: Since the definition of a trapezoid inherently allows for only one pair of parallel sides, an isosceles trapezoid, as a type of trapezoid, cannot have two pairs of parallel sides. A quadrilateral with two pairs of parallel sides is typically designated as a parallelogram, not a trapezoid.

Therefore, the solution to the problem is that isosceles trapezoids do not have two pairs of parallel sides. No.

Given that the trapezoid is isosceles and the angles on both sides are equal, it can be argued that:

$∢C=∢D$

$∢A=∢B$

We know that the sum of the angles of a quadrilateral is 360 degrees.

Therefore we can create the formula:

$∢A+∢B+∢C+∢D=360$

We replace according to the existing data:

$120+120+2x+2x=360$

 $240+4x=360$

$4x=360-240$

$4x=120$

We divide the two sections by 4:

$\frac{4x}{4}=\frac{120}{4}$

$x=30$

True: in every isosceles trapezoid the base angles are equal to each other.

The diagonals of an isosceles trapezoid are always equal to each other,

but they do not necessarily bisect each other.

(Reminder, "bisect" means that they meet exactly in the middle, meaning they are cut into two equal parts, two halves)

For example, the following trapezoid ABCD, which is isosceles, is drawn.

Using a computer program we calculate the center of the two diagonals,

And we see that the center points are not G, but the points E and F.

This means that the diagonals do not bisect.