How to find if rhombuses are similar

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Math › How to find if rhombuses are similar

Questions 1 - 3
1

Given: Rhombuses and .

and

True, false, or undetermined: Rhombus Rhombus .

True

False

Undetermined

Explanation

Two figures are similar by definition if all of their corresponding sides are proportional and all of their corresponding angles are congruent.

By definition, a rhombus has four sides that are congruent. If we let be the common sidelength of Rhombus and be the common sidelength of Rhombus , it can easily be seen that the ratio of the length of each side of the former to that of the latter is the same ratio, namely, .

Also, a rhombus being a parallelogram, its opposite angles are congruent, and its consecutive angles are supplementary. Therefore, since , it follows that , and . By a similar argument, and . Therefore,

Since all corresponding sides are proportional and all corresponding angles are congruent, it holds that Rhombus Rhombus .

2

Given: Rhombuses and .

True, false, or undetermined: Rhombus Rhombus .

Undetermined

True

False

Explanation

Two figures are congruent by definition if all of their corresponding sides are congruent and all of their corresponding angles are congruent.

By definition, a rhombus has four sides of equal length. If we let be the common sidelength of Rhombus and be the common sidelength of Rhombus , then, since , it follows that , so corresponding sides are congruent. However, no information is given about their angle measures. Therefore, it cannot be determined whether or not the two rhombuses are congruent.

3

A quadrilateral ABCD has diagonals that are perpendicular bisectors of one another. Which of the following classifications must apply to quadrilateral ABCD?

I. parallelogram

II. rhombus

III. square

I and II only

I and III only

II and III only

I, II, and III

Explanation

If the diagonals of a quadrilateral are perpendicular bisectors of one another, then the quadrilateral must be a rhombus, but not necessarily a square. Since all rhombi are also parallelograms, quadrilateral ABCD must be both a rhombus and parallelogram.