Symmetry: A figure has symmetry if there is a line going through it which divides it into two pieces which are mirror images of each other.
Line of Symmetry: The line of symmetry divides a figure into two mirror-image halves. If you can reflect (or flip) a figure over a line and the figure appears unchanged, then the figure has reflection or line symmetry.
Rotational Symmetry: A figure has rotational symmetry if it can be turned (rotated) a certain number of degrees around a center point and the object looks the same.
In the diagram to the left the first figure, the heart, has one line of symmetry because that is the only place that the heart can be divided into two mirror images. The rest of the figures have more than line of symmetry and also have rotational symmetry. Please note that only equilateral triangles will have rotational symmetry. |