How To Find The Perimeter Of A Six-Sided Figure

A six-sided figure, also known as a hexagon, is a polygon commonly found in geometry. Hexagons can either be regular or irregular depending in the length of each side. Finding the perimeter of a hexagon is relatively easy and requires only simple addition or multiplication.

Step 1

Determine if the hexagon is equilateral. An equilateral hexagon, also known as a regular hexagon, will have six sides that are all the same length. An irregular hexagon, however, will have six sides of varying length, such as 3 inches on one side, 4 inches on another side, 7 inches on another side and 5 inches on the other three sides.

Step 2

Multiply one side of a regular hexagon by six to find the perimeter. Use a calculator to perform the multiplication if needed. For example, if you know that one side of an equilateral hexagon is 8 inches, the other five sides are also 8 inches. Multiplying 8 by 6 will give you the perimeter of the hexagon: 48 inches.

Step 3

Add up the length of each side of an irregular hexagon. Since irregular hexagons feature sides of varying length you cannot use the multiplication method advised in Step 2. Instead, total up the sum of each side to find the perimeter. For example, if the irregular hexagon has a side that is 3 inches, one side that is 4 inches, one side that is 7 inches and three sides that are 5 inches, the perimeter of the hexagon would be 29 inches. Use a calculator to complete the calculations if needed.