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Classifying quadrilaterals

There are many different relationships between the types of quadrilaterals. Parallelograms have two sets of parallel sides, rhombuses are parallelograms with equal side lengths, and squares are rhombuses with right angles. Though there is overlap, not all quadrilaterals fit into each category. Created by Sal Khan.

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Video transcript

A parallelogram is a blank with two sets of parallel lines. So let's see what the options are. So one option is a quadrilateral. And a parallelogram is definitely a quadrilateral. A quadrilateral is a four-sided figure, and it is definitely a four-sided figure. A parallelogram is not always a rhombus. A rhombus is a special case of a parallelogram where not only do you have to sets of parallel lines as your sides, two sets of parallel sides, but all of the sides are the same length in a rhombus. And a square is a special case of a rhombus where all of the angles are 90 degrees. So here, all we can say is that a parallelogram is a quadrilateral. And so let's check our answer. And it's always a good idea to look at hints. And so it'll kind of say the same thing that we just said, but it would say it for the particular problem that you're actually looking at. Let's do a few more of these. Suzanne is on an expedition to save the universe. Sounds like a reasonable expedition to go on. For her final challenge, she has to play a game called Find the Rhombuses. A wizard tells her that she has a square, a quadrilateral, and a parallelogram, and she must identify which of the shapes are also rhombuses. Which of these shapes should she pick to save the universe? So a square is a special case of a rhombus. Just to remind ourselves, a rhombus, the opposite sides are parallel to each other. You have two sets of parallel sides. A square has two sets of parallel sides, and it has the extra condition that all of the angles are right angles. So a square is definitely going to be a rhombus. Now, all rhombuses have four sides. So all rhombuses are quadrilaterals. But not all quadrilaterals are rhombuses. You could have a quadrilateral where none of the sides are parallel to each other. So we won't click this one. Once again, a parallelogram. So all rhombuses are parallelograms. They have two sets of parallel sides, two sets of parallel line segments representing their sides. But all parallelograms are not rhombuses. So I would say that if someone gives you square, you can say, look, a square is always going to be a rhombus. A quadrilateral isn't always going to be a rhombus, nor is a parallelogram always going to be a rhombus. We got it right.