What is a rectangle with 4 equal sides?

The Square: Not Just Another Rectangle

We all know rectangles, right? Those four-sided shapes with the perfect 90-degree corners. But what happens when you take a rectangle and give it a little extra something? What if you make all four sides the same length? Boom! You’ve got yourself a square.

What Exactly Is a Square?

Think of a square as a super-special rectangle. It’s a four-sided figure, just like any other quadrilateral, but it plays by its own rules. It’s what you might call a “regular” quadrilateral. What does that mean? Well, two things:

• Equal Sides, All Around: Every side of a square is exactly the same length. No exceptions. That’s the big difference between a square and your run-of-the-mill rectangle.
• Perfectly Square Corners: Just like any good rectangle, a square has four perfect right angles. Each one is exactly 90 degrees.

So, yeah, you can think of a square as a rectangle that decided to go the extra mile and make all its sides equal. Or, if you’re feeling fancy, it’s a rhombus that straightened up and flew right.

Cool Things About Squares

Squares are more than just shapes; they’re geometric powerhouses. Here’s a few things that make them so interesting:

• Parallel Lines: The opposite sides of a square? They’re like train tracks – perfectly parallel.
• Diagonals with a Secret: The diagonals (those lines you can draw from corner to corner) are not only the same length, but they slice each other in half perfectly and at a 90-degree angle. Plus, they split those corners into perfect 45-degree angles. Neat, huh?
• Symmetry Central: A square is like a perfectly balanced work of art. You can fold it in half four different ways and it’ll line up perfectly every time. That’s symmetry at its finest.
• Area and Perimeter: Want to know how much space a square takes up? Just multiply the length of one side by itself. (s²). Need to know how much fence you need to go around it? Multiply the length of one side by four (4s). Easy peasy.

The Square’s Identity Crisis (Not Really)

Here’s the thing: a square is a rectangle. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It ticks all the boxes: four sides, four right angles. It just happens to have that extra “equal sides” bonus.

But, and this is important, not all rectangles are squares. A rectangle is happy just having opposite sides equal. It doesn’t need all the sides to be the same length.

Squares in the Wild

Look around, and you’ll start seeing squares everywhere.

• Checkers and chessboards.
• Tiles on your kitchen floor.
• Picture frames.
• City blocks laid out in a grid.

The Bottom Line

So, a rectangle with four equal sides? That’s a square, plain and simple. It’s a fundamental shape that pops up all over the place, and understanding it is key to understanding the world of geometry. It is not just a shape, it’s a building block. It’s the foundation of so much more.