Easy Ways to Remember Geometry Formulas

Students frequently inquire about formulas for areas or volumes. Sometimes they are just puzzled by the number of formulas they should know while at other times they want to know if these formulas are right or not. Both these questions have, in part, the same answer. If you understand at least something of where they originate from, you can either remember them more easily or derive them when you need them.

Since the formulas in geometry are in vast numbers, not all the students are capable of remembering all the formulas. Suppose, memorizing the area of an equilateral triangle is easy because all the sides are equal here, by the general formula of the triangle, we can derive the formula for its area. But when we learn about irregular shapes like trapezium, then remembering formulas for this shape becomes a little tricky. Hence, here are a few easy ways you can remember the formulas for geometry.

  • Firstly, understand what is a two-dimensional geometry and three-dimensional geometry. Two-dimensional defines the shape in the x-axis and y-axis whereas, in the three-dimensional case, additional z-axis is introduced.
  • Secondly, observe the dimensions such as length, breadth, and height along the axes. Usually, the length is defined along the x-axis, height along the y-axis and width along the z-axis.
  • Now, remember all those figures that fall under 2D and 3D categories. Such as triangle, circle, square, rectangle, etc. are two-dimensional figures whereas sphere, cube, cuboid, etc. are the three-dimensional figures.
  • Now, relate each of the formulas with the respective shapes. Understand the logic behind each formula.
  • Memorize the formulas in words. For example, the area of the square is equal to the square of its side, which is A = side2. It is easy to remember in this way.
  • Relate it with the real-world. Whenever you find any object which resembles any geometrical shape, then you can recall the formulas for its area and volume by knowing the dimensions.
  • Maintain a notebook where you can write all the important formulae concept-wise.
  • Practice questions based on each formula multiple times.

Some shapes have few properties which are the same, like square and rhombus, both have all the four sides equal. But that does not mean the area of rhombus is equal to that of the square because though the diagonals of a square are equal, those of rhombus are different in length. Hence, it is very necessary for each student to remember the shapes of different figures to remember the formulas.

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