Each of the interior angle of a regular polygon is 162o. How many sides has the polygon?
Answer Details
The sum of the interior angles of a polygon can be found by using the formula (n-2) x 180, where n is the number of sides of the polygon. For a regular polygon, all interior angles are equal. Let's call the measure of each interior angle x.
Since the polygon is regular, we can use the fact that the sum of the measures of the interior angles of a polygon with n sides is (n-2) x 180, and that each interior angle of this polygon has measure x. Thus, we can set up the equation:
n x x = (n-2) x 180
Simplifying this equation, we get:
nx = 180n - 360
nx - 180n = -360
n(x - 180) = -360
n = -360 / (x - 180)
We know that each interior angle of the polygon has a measure of 162 degrees, so x = 162. Substituting this value into the equation we just derived, we get:
n = -360 / (162 - 180)
n = -360 / (-18)
n = 20
Therefore, the polygon has 20 sides. Answer: 20.