Basic Algebra and Geometry Made a Bit Easier Lesson Plans:
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Lesson 98: Similar vs. Congruent
In this easy lesson, we'll learn the difference between similar and congruent figures.
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In real life, we use the word "similar" to mean different things. The term is somewhat vague. In math, it has a special definition. See the picture below. In math, two figures are called similar if they are the same shape, but different sizes, such as the turtles in the lower half of the picture. It doesn't matter if they are rotated or not. Two figures are congruent if they are exactly the same size and the same shape, such as the turtles in the top half of the picture. Again, rotation doesn't matter at all.
Make sure that you memorize these definitions as they come up quite a bit in math.
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