Browse · MATH
Printjmc
prealgebra senior
Problem
How many sides would there be in a convex polygon if the sum of all but one of its interior angles is ?
Solution
The sum of the interior angles in any -sided polygon is degrees, so the angle measures in a polygon with 7 sides sum to degrees, which means that the desired polygon has more than 7 sides. Meanwhile, the angle measures in a polygon with 8 sides sum to degrees. So, it's possible that the polygon has sides, and that the last angle measures .
To see that this is the only possibility, note that the angle measures in a polygon with 9 sides sum to degrees. Therefore, if the polygon has more than 8 sides, then the last interior angle must measure at least . But this is impossible because each interior angle of a convex polygon has measure less than .
To see that this is the only possibility, note that the angle measures in a polygon with 9 sides sum to degrees. Therefore, if the polygon has more than 8 sides, then the last interior angle must measure at least . But this is impossible because each interior angle of a convex polygon has measure less than .
Final answer
8