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Area of a regular polygon
The number of square units it takes to completely fill a regular polygon.
Four different ways to calculate the area are given, with a formula for each.
Try this Drag the orange dots on each vertex
to resize the polygon. Alter the number of sides. The area will be continuously calculated.
The formulae below give the area of a regular polygon. Use the one that matches what you are given to start.
They assume you know how many sides the polygon has. Most require a certain knowledge of trigonometry (not covered in this volume,
but see Trigonometry Overview).
1. Given the length of a side.
By definition, all sides of a regular polygon are equal in length. If you know the length of one of the sides, the area is given by the formula:
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where
S is the length of any side
N is the number of sides
TAN is the tangent function calculated in degrees
(see Trigonometry Overview)
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2. Given the radius (circumradius)
If you know the radius (distance from the center to a vertex, see figure above):
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where
R is the radius (circumradius)
N is the number of sides
SIN is the sine function calculated in degrees
(see Trigonometry Overview)
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3. Given the apothem (inradius)
If you know the
apothem, or inradius, (the perpendicular distance from center to a side. See figure above)
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where
A is the length of the apothem (inradius)
N is the number of sides
TAN is the tangent function calculated in degrees (see Trigonometry Overview).
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4. Given the apothem and length of a side
If you know the apothem (the perpendicular distance from center to a side. See figure above) and the length of a side,
first determine the perimeter by mutiplying the side length by N.
The area is given by
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where
A is the length of the apothem
P is the perimeter
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Irregular Polygons
Finding the area of an irregular polygon is trickier since there are no easy formulas. See
Area of an Irregular Polygon
Related polygon topics
General
Types of polygon
Area of various polygon types
Perimeter of various polygon types
Angles associated with polygons
Named polygons
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