Lines of symmetry in a rectangle

A rectangle is a quadrilateral with four right angles in Euclidean plane geometry. It is also known as an equiangular quadrilateral because all of its angles are equal; or a parallelogram with a right angle A square is a rectangle with 4 sides that are all the same length..  Rectangles are quadrilaterals with opposite sides that are equal and parallel to each other. As a result, a rectangle is also considered a type of parallelogram.

A figure is said to be symmetrical in Geometry when it can be divided into two identical halves by a line. These are known as the lines of symmetry of a shape or figure & a symmetry line always divides a shape into two equal and similar parts. There are various types of symmetries for shapes, such as linear symmetry, mirror symmetry, and reflectional symmetry.

How to figure out how many lines of symmetry a shape has

Folding technique. By folding a shape, you can determine if it has a Line of Symmetry. The fold line is a Line of Symmetry when the folded part sits perfectly on top (all edges matching).

Lines of symmetry in rectangle

A rectangle has two lines of symmetry.

• The two lines of symmetry are formed by drawing one line through the centre along its length and the other along its width. As an outcome, we have four shapes that are equal and match. Take a rectangular piece of paper and try this out.

• This is a easy folding technique for finding whether or not a shape has a line of symmetry.

• If the folded part is placed exactly on top of the other, the folding line is referred to as the line of symmetry. The diagram below depicts the symmetry lines of a rectangle along its length and width.

• Each half of the rectangle is placed on top of the other when it is folded along the lines of symmetry.

• Fold the paper horizontally first to check the first line of symmetry and to examine the size and shape of the equal halves. Then, fold it vertically to see the other identical halves along the second line of symmetry.

We can see a rectangle has two lines of symmetry, one horizontal and one vertical in the above figure1.

Rectangle Rotational symmetry

Rotational symmetry occurs when a figure or flat shape is rotated along its axis and still appears to be the same as before. In other words, if the shape remains the same after a partial rotation, there is rotational symmetry. 

When a rectangle is rotated by 180° and 360° on its axis, it has rotational symmetry we can see in below figure 2. When a rectangle is rotated, it fits on its boundary exactly twice, once at 180° and once at 360°.

Because the length of a rectangle is greater than its breadth, there is no rotational symmetry at 90° and 270°.

Conclusion

We learned in this article. A rectangle’s lines of symmetry are the lines that divide the rectangle into two identical halves. A rectangle has 2 symmetry lines. The first is drawn horizontally, while the second is drawn vertically. It should be noted that a rectangle’s diagonals are not considered lines of symmetry because they do not divide the rectangle into equal and identical halves. It generates patterns that help us conceptually organize our world. We see symmetry all the time, but we don’t always notice it. People use symmetry concepts such as translations, rotations, reflections.