How many lines of symmetry does a figure have?

Line of Symmetry

Here my dog "Flame" has her face
made perfectly symmetrical with a bit
of photo magic.

Índice Show

Line of Symmetry
Folding Test
Quadrilaterals
Regular Polygons
How do you find the number of lines of symmetry for a figure?
What figure has 4 lines symmetry?
Which figure has 3 lines of symmetry?
What figure has 5 lines symmetry?

The white line down the center is the
Line of Symmetry

Folding Test

You can find if a shape has a Line of Symmetry by folding it.

When the folded part sits perfectly on top (all edges matching), then the fold line is a Line of Symmetry.

Here I have folded a rectangle one way, and it didn't work.

So this is not a Line of Symmetry

But when I try it this way, it does work (the folded part sits perfectly on top, all edges matching):

So this is a Line of Symmetry

Triangles

A Triangle can have 3, or 1 or no lines of symmetry:


Equilateral Triangle (all sides equal, all angles equal)	Isosceles Triangle (two sides equal, two angles equal)	Scalene Triangle (no sides equal, no angles equal)
3 Lines of Symmetry	1 Line of Symmetry	No Lines of Symmetry

Quadrilaterals

Different types of Quadrilaterals (a 4-sided plane shape):


Square (all sides equal, all angles 90°)	Rectangle (opposite sides equal, all angles 90°)	Irregular Quadrilateral
4 Lines of Symmetry	2 Lines of Symmetry	No Lines of Symmetry

Regular Polygons

A regular polygon has all sides equal, and all angles equal:

	An Equilateral Triangle (3 sides) has 3 Lines of Symmetry
		A Square (4 sides) has 4 Lines of Symmetry
	A Regular Pentagon (5 sides) has 5 Lines of Symmetry
		A Regular Hexagon (6 sides) has 6 Lines of Symmetry
	A Regular Heptagon (7 sides) has 7 Lines of Symmetry
		A Regular Octagon (8 sides) has 8 Lines of Symmetry

And the pattern continues:

A regular polygon of 9 sides has 9 Lines of Symmetry
A regular polygon of 10 sides has 10 Lines of Symmetry
...
A regular polygon of "n" sides has "n" Lines of Symmetry

Circle

A line (drawn at any angle) that goes through its center is a Line of Symmetry.

So a Circle has infinite Lines of Symmetry.

How do you find the number of lines of symmetry for a figure?

Steps to Determine the Number of Lines of Symmetry Polygon: If the figure is a polygon, look for a way that you could fold the figure so that both sides match up exactly evenly. The line that folds the figure perfectly in half is a line of symmetry.

What figure has 4 lines symmetry?

A square has four lines of symmetry.

Which figure has 3 lines of symmetry?

A scalene triangle is a triangle with no lines of symmetry while an isosceles triangle has at least one line of symmetry and an equilateral triangle has three lines of symmetry.