A rhombus is a special four-sided shape called a quadrilateral. What makes it special is that all four sides have exactly the same length. It's also a type of parallelogram, which means opposite sides are parallel to each other.
A rhombus has several important properties. Opposite angles are always equal to each other. The diagonals of a rhombus bisect each other, meaning they cut each other exactly in half. Most importantly, these diagonals always meet at right angles, forming ninety-degree angles where they intersect.
There are special types of rhombuses. A square is actually a special rhombus where all angles are exactly ninety degrees. When we rotate a square forty-five degrees, we get what's commonly called a diamond shape. Remember, all squares are rhombuses, but not all rhombuses are squares, because most rhombuses don't have right angles.
To calculate the area and perimeter of a rhombus, we use specific formulas. The area equals one-half times the product of the two diagonal lengths. The perimeter is simply four times the length of one side, since all sides are equal. These formulas are very useful for solving geometry problems involving rhombuses.
To summarize what we have learned about rhombuses: A rhombus is a four-sided shape where all sides are equal in length. It has special properties like diagonals that meet at right angles and bisect each other. Squares are just special rhombuses with ninety-degree angles. Rhombuses appear frequently in mathematics, architecture, and design applications.