A kite has two pairs of adjacent equal sides — short-short, long-long — just like the toy on a string. (A rhombus is the special case where all four are equal.)
Drag the corners
square
area ≈ 72.9 sq units
Area
Half the product of the diagonals — they meet at right angles, which makes this work.
Kite anatomy
- Two pairs of equal adjacent sides — the pairs meet at the 'top' and 'bottom' points.
- One pair of opposite angles is equal — the two angles between the unequal sides.
- The diagonals cross at right angles; the long diagonal is the axis of symmetry and bisects the other diagonal.
- Exactly 1 line of symmetry — down the main diagonal.
Your turn
A kite has diagonals 10 cm and 4 cm. What's its area?