Skip to content
Your progress

Checking your sign-in…

Who's learning?

Each profile keeps its own read lessons, badges, streak, and practice scores on this device.

Lesson 1 of 11

The first theorem

Show on a big screen

8 min

Text size

A ray has a start point and no end point. A ray starts at a point on a straight line. It makes two angles. What do they add to?

Loading lab…

A straight line.
Step 1 of 4
  1. A straight line.
  2. A ray splits it into two angles.
  3. The first angle is 65°.
  4. The second is 115°. 65 + 115 = 180.

The rule

The two angles add to 180°.

An angle has a vertex (corner point) and two arms (sides). A linear pair is two angles sharing a vertex and an arm. Their other arms form a straight line.

Theorem. The two angles of a linear pair total 180°. A theorem is a fact we prove.

Why? Together they make a straight angle, the angle along a straight line. A straight angle is 180°. So the two parts add to 180°.

Example. One angle of a linear pair is 65°. The pair totals 180°. So the other is 180° − 65° = 115°.

Two names for totals. Angles that total 180° are supplementary, like 65° and 115°. Angles that total 90° are complementary.

Try the lab to finish this lesson.