Transformations

Learn translations, rotations, reflections, and dilations

Start with the basics and progress through 2 lessons. Each lesson builds on the previous one.

Test Your Knowledge

10 questions, new mix each time (from 34)

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In This Topic (2 lessons)

Geometric transformations move, flip, rotate, or resize figures while preserving key properties. The four main transformations - translations (slides), reflections (flips), rotations (turns), and dilations (scaling) - appear everywhere from art and design to computer graphics and physics.

What You'll Learn

  • Perform translations on the coordinate plane
  • Reflect figures across lines of symmetry
  • Rotate figures around a point
  • Apply dilations with various scale factors
  • Identify transformation sequences

Frequently Asked Questions

Which transformations preserve size?

Translations, reflections, and rotations are rigid transformations that preserve both size and shape. Dilations change size but preserve shape.

How do I reflect over the y-axis?

Change the sign of the x-coordinate: (x, y) becomes (-x, y). For reflection over the x-axis: (x, y) becomes (x, -y).

What determines a rotation?

A rotation requires a center point and an angle. Positive angles rotate counterclockwise; negative angles rotate clockwise.