Orientation — Grade 8 Math, what it means and where it is taught
Whether the labels run clockwise or counter-clockwise around the shape.
Taught in Grade 8 Math.
Where it is taught
Practise this idea
2 questions in the course bank use Orientation, in Congruence & Sequences of Transformations.
Problem 1
A shape is reflected twice, across two different lines. Is the final orientation the same as the original or reversed?
Worked answer
same
One reflection reverses it
A second reflection reverses it back
So the orientation is the same
Problem 2
A figure and its image have opposite orientations. Which sequence could have produced it?
- A reflection followed by a translation
- Two rotations
- A translation followed by a rotation
- Three rotations
Worked answer
A reflection followed by a translation
Rotations and translations keep the orientation
An odd number of reflections reverses it
So the answer must contain exactly one reflection