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Congruence (geometry)

In geometry, two figures or objects are congruent if they have the same shape and size, or if one has the same shape and size as the mirror image of the other. More formally, two sets of points are called congruent if, and only if, one can be transformed into the other by an isometry, i.e., a combination of rigid motions, namely a translation, a rotation, and a reflection. This means that either object can be repositioned and reflected (but not resized) so as to coincide precisely with the other object. So two distinct plane figures on a piece of paper are congruent if we can cut them out and then match them up completely. Turning the paper over is permitted. In elementary geometry the word congruent is often used as follows. The word equal is often used in place of congruent for these objects. In this sense, two plane figures are congruent implies that their corresponding characteristics are 'congruent' or 'equal' including not just their corresponding sides and angles, but also their corresponding diagonals, perimeters and areas. The related concept of similarity applies if the objects have the same shape but do not necessarily have the same size. (Most definitions consider congruence to be a form of similarity, although a minority require that the objects have different sizes in order to qualify as similar.) For two polygons to be congruent, they must have an equal number of sides (and hence an equal number—the same number—of vertices). Two polygons with n sides are congruent if and only if they each have numerically identical sequences (even if clockwise for one polygon and counterclockwise for the other) side-angle-side-angle-... for n sides and n angles.

[ "Geometry", "Social psychology", "Discrete mathematics", "Algebra", "Topology", "Congruence subgroup", "Mood congruence", "congruence class", "Wolstenholme's theorem", "Congruence bias" ]
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