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Hexagon facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

A hexagon is a polygon with 6 sides and 6 corners (vertices). Like regular triangles and squares, hexagons fit together without gaps, which are known as tesselations. They therefore are often used for tiling floors. They are also quite common in nature. The honeycombs in beehives are hexagons, for example.

Click the image for a step-by-step animation of the construction of a regular hexagon using compass and straightedge, given by Euclid's Elements, Book IV, Proposition 15: this is possible as 6  2 × 3, a product of a power of two and distinct Fermat primes. When the side length AB is given, then you draw around the point A and around the point B a circular arc. The intersection M is the center of the circumscribed circle. Transfer the line segment AB four times on the circumscribed circle and connect the corner points.
Click the image for a step-by-step animation of the construction of a regular hexagon using compass and straightedge, given by Euclid's Elements, Book IV, Proposition 15: this is possible as 6 = 2 × 3, a product of a power of two and distinct Fermat primes.
When the side length AB is given, then you draw around the point A and around the point B a circular arc. The intersection M is the center of the circumscribed circle. Transfer the line segment AB four times on the circumscribed circle and connect the corner points.

Hexagons: in nature and by humankind

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Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Hexágono para niños

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Hexagon Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.