Hexagon
Last week one of my students slid a piece of graph paper across the table and asked me why her drawing looked like a squashed stop sign. She was trying to draw a hexagon for a geometry project and kept ending up with something lopsided.
Table of Contents
- Quick answer
- What a hexagon actually is (and why people trip on it)
- Angles, area, and the math you might actually need
- How to draw one without it looking crooked
- Key takeaways
- Conclusion
- What’s next
Quick answer
A hexagon is a shape with six sides. That’s the whole thing. The word comes from Greek, “hex” meaning six, and if you can count to six you already know the most important fact about it.
What a hexagon actually is (and why people trip on it)
So when folks ask me how many sides does a hexagon have, the answer is six every single time. Six sides, six corners, six angles. A regular hexagon has all six sides the same length and all the angles matching. That’s the neat, symmetrical one you picture in your head.
But not every six sided shape is regular. You can have a stretched-out one, a squished one, a weird jagged one. As long as it’s got six straight sides and it closes up, it counts. My student’s “squashed stop sign” was technically still a hexagon. Just an ugly one.
Here’s where the fear comes in. People worry about getting the shape or the measurements wrong, and honestly that worry usually shows up because they’re mixing up hexagon vs pentagon. A pentagon has five sides. A hexagon has six. I’ve seen smart kids lose points on a test just from that one slip, so say it out loud if you have to.
You already know the hexagon shape even if you don’t think you do. Honeycomb. That perfect honeycomb hexagon pattern bees build is the classic example, and it’s a big reason the shape shows up everywhere in real life, from bathroom tiles to bolt heads to soccer ball panels.
Angles, area, and the math you might actually need
Let me hit the questions I get most often. Students ask me these constantly, so here they are together.
How many sides does a hexagon have? Six. Six straight sides that connect to make a closed shape. No more, no less.
What do the angles of a hexagon add up to? The interior angles of a hexagon add up to 720 degrees. In a regular hexagon, that splits evenly, so each corner is 120 degrees. If someone tells you a different number for the hexagon angles add up to, double-check whether they’re counting a regular one or not. The 720 total holds for any hexagon, but the 120 per corner only works for the regular kind.
How do you find the area of a hexagon? For a regular hexagon, the area of a hexagon formula is (3√3 ÷ 2) times the side length squared. Plug in your side length, square it, multiply. That’s it. For the perimeter of a hexagon it’s even simpler, just add up all six sides, or multiply one side by six if they’re equal.
I’ll be honest, most of my SAT and ACT students never need to memorize that area formula cold. It shows up rarely. But knowing where the 720 and the 120 come from? That saves you on test day more than you’d think.
How to draw one without it looking crooked
The trick to how to draw a hexagon is to start with a circle. Draw a light circle, mark six points evenly around the edge, then connect them. Six points, six sides. Your compass is your best friend here.
No compass? Use the corner of a ruler and eyeball equal spacing along the circle. Not perfect, but decent. My student’s problem was she skipped the circle and just guessed. Once she drew the circle first, her hexagon looked sharp on the first try.
Key takeaways
A hexagon has six sides and six angles. Its interior angles total 720 degrees, or 120 each when it’s regular. Find area with the formula, find perimeter by adding the sides, and always draw from a circle. And don’t confuse it with a pentagon.
Conclusion
None of this is hard once the fear drops away. A hexagon is just six sides doing their job, and the math is more predictable than most shapes you’ll meet.
What’s next
I tutor SAT, ACT, and PSAT students here in Santa Fe, and geometry mix-ups like this one come up all the time. If your kid is prepping and getting tangled on shapes and angles, come see how I work. Start here: https://google.com
So here’s the question I’d leave you with: which shapes are you still second-guessing, and what would it feel like to stop guessing on test day?