A rhombus is one of several subsets of parallelograms. Rhombi have all the attributes, or properties of quadrilaterals and parallelograms. In this topic, you will explore what rhombi have in common with parallelograms. You will also discover the three ways in which they are uniquely different from parallelograms. In real life applications, a rhombus is sometimes referred to as a diamond. In this topic, and in all mathematics courses, the proper terminology is a rhombus.

Essential Question

• How can you apply the properties of a rhombus to solve problems?

 

Warm-Up

Did you know that the quadrilateral shape rhombus is used in a very common type of fence? You many have seen this type of fencing at your high school, baseball or softball fields, or even surrounding your local tennis courts. Chain link fencing is also known as rhombus wire mesh. The wire in the fence is twisted into a rhombus shape with opposite equal acute angles, opposite equal obtuse angles, and four equal sides. Therefore, the next time you see a chain link fence, you will know that geometry was used in its construction. Can you think of any other ways the rhombus is used to construct everyday objects?