About the Regular Pentagon
What Is a Regular Pentagon?
A regular pentagon is a five-sided polygon with all sides equal and all interior angles equal at 108 degrees. It is deeply connected to the golden ratio (phi = 1.618...) which appears in its diagonal-to-side ratio and other proportional relationships.
Area Formula
The area of a regular pentagon with side s is A = sqrt(5(5+2sqrt(5)))/4 x s². This formula can also be expressed as A = (5/4)s² x cot(pi/5). The area derives from the five identical isosceles triangles that compose the pentagon.
The Golden Ratio Connection
The diagonal of a regular pentagon relates to its side by the golden ratio: d = phi x s = (1+sqrt(5))/2 x s. This mathematical relationship has fascinated mathematicians for millennia and appears throughout nature and art.
Applications
Pentagons appear in architecture (the Pentagon building), design (the classic home plate in baseball), chemistry (fullerene molecules), and nature (flowers, starfish). The five-fold symmetry is common in biological organisms.