Diagonals of Polygons

 

 

square has 2 diagonals octagon has 20 diagonals
A square has
2 diagonals
An octagon has
20 diagonals

A polygon's diagonals are line segments from one corner to another (but not the edges).

 

The number of diagonals of an n-sided polygon is:

n(n − 3) / 2

Examples:

  • a square (or any quadrilateral) has 4(4−3)/2 = 4×1/2 = 2 diagonals
  • an octagon has 8(8−3)/2 = 8×5/2 = 20 diagonals.
  • a triangle has 3(3−3)/2 = 3×0/2 = 0 diagonals.

 

Try it Yourself:

images/area-coords.js?mode=diag

 

polygon concave diagonals A diagonal can actually be outside the polygon,
which happens with some concave polygons.

 

1794, 7625, 7627, 7629, 11, 1795, 7626, 7628, 7630, 7631