Pick"s Theorem

Department of Mathematics Education

Pick's Theorem

You might have heard of Pick' Theorem. But in many cases we just use that formula without the considering why it is so. Once we know how that is made, it's hard to forget and easy to apply whenever we need.

First let me start with the follwing definitions:

I - Number of the interior points of a polygon on a geoboard.

B - Number of the boundary points of a polygon on a geoboard.

Fundamental Triangle - Any triangle with no interior points and no more three boundary points

1) How does the area change if one starts from a fundamental triangle(b=3, I=0), keeps B at constant a 3 , and subsequently increases I by one? Write down the results of your exploration(possibly in a table).

a) To keep B at 3 point and subsequently increases I by one.

As the interior points increases by one, the area increases by one. So we can make the below table from the pattern tha we have found.

b) To keep B at 4 points and subsequently increases I by one.

As the interior points increases by one, the area increases by one. So we can make the below table from the pattern tha we have found.

c) To keep B at 5 points and subsequently increases I by one.

As the interior points increases by one, the area increases by one. So we can make the below table from the pattern tha we have found.

Up to here we can guess that the number of interior points make the area increase by one.

Now here let me put the boundary points in the very left column and interior points in the very top row. Here is a Table for that

2) How does the area change if one starts from a fundamental triangle (B=3, I=0), keeps I at constant, and subsequently increases B by one? Write down the results of your exploration.

a) To keep I at 0 point and subsequently increases B by one