Angles

How Angles Are Formed?

When two rays share a common endpoint, they form an angle. The figure below is created by sharing the endpoints of two rays, and , at A. The result is an angle.

The common point of the rays is called the vertex (plural: vertices) of the angle. The two rays are the sides of the angle. In the figure above, A is the vertex and and are the sides.

The symbol for an angle is "". An angle can be labeled in two different ways.  It can be labeled by using only the letter denoting the vertex.  In the example above, we would label this as A, read as "angle A". It can also be labeled by using three letters – the vertex, and one point on each ray.  When using the second method, the vertex is always the middle letter. We would then label the above angle as MAN, read as "angle MAN" or NAM, read as "angle NAM."