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Rigid Motion
See It in Action
Two examples of the idea done right—and one common look-alike that is not right.
EXAMPLE
EXAMPLE
NON-EXAMPLE
Definition
A rigid motion is a transformation that preserves the size and shape of a figure.
Key Points:
Also called a congruence transformation.
Distances between points and angle measures stay the same.
The figure may change position or orientation, but not its shape or size.
The 3 types of rigid motions:
Translation (sliding)
Reflection (flipping)
Rotation (turning)
Example:
If a square is rotated 90° or reflected over a line, it’s been moved — but it’s still the same square, just in a different position.
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