Identify and completely describe transformations
Identify a transformation from complete named object/image data and give its full parameters, allowing equivalent line or angle descriptions without inferring unique parameters for an identity.
Section 5.2 · Transformation geometry
Exam scope and assessment notes
These twelve shared lessons apply to Foundation and inherited Higher for F5.2A–M; no extra Higher row is added. Keep named corners, signed turns, equivalent mirror equations, exact fractions, positive factors and the freely chosen-centre and identity exceptions. General-angle coordinates are final3dp approximations of unrounded geometry. Written explanations need human review; coordinate agreement does not certify proof or physical construction. Linear November2026/June2027 entry and regional-centre rules remain separate from modular awards. Book2 Shape and Space7 tags and Hubs66–71 are navigation only: map223–248 differs from proof222/summary247/next248, with chapter/Hub bodies unavailable.
Before you begin
- Construct the four transformation families and their inverses.
- Use corresponding distances, orientations and centre-to-point relations.
- Interpret exact fractional parameters and signed angles.
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
Which is a complete reflection description?
What you will learn
- Distinguish translation, rotation, reflection and positive enlargement from the whole correspondence.
- Give the vector, centre/angle, mirror line or centre/factor needed for a complete description.
- Check every named vertex and retain genuine equivalent or underdetermined descriptions.
Polygon ABC has A(1,1), B(4,1), C(2,3). The corresponding image is A′(0,-2), B′(0,1), C′(-2,-1). The named image vertices correspond in the displayed order. Identify the transformation and give a complete object-to-image description; explain any equivalent angle descriptions.
Describe your operation, construct every named image point, and record your actual directed traces. Only the question supplies the givens. The board does not transform a shape or recover a missing parameter for you.
Both Cartesian directions have equal drawing scale. Blue is supplied geometry, amber is my actual work, purple is dirty retained work, and green is a separately gated reference. Screen size is not physical instrument calibration.
Actual boundaries retain their entered order, closure, concavity and wrong or incomplete points. No reflected corner, rotation endpoint, mirror foot or target polygon is filled automatically. Construction rays continue beyond their anchors; mirror lines continue both ways; joining segments keep their original endpoints.
This finite fixed-case comparison is not proof marking, marks, mastery, physical construction calibration or specialist/formal assessment approval. General-angle points stay unrounded; a separately requested three-decimal written table is an approximation.
Actual operation 1
No actual construction is recorded for this action.
Choose a point slot before adding a keyboard coordinate or picking on the board. Named picks retain exact given or current clean recorded coordinates. Free picks retain their unrounded actual planar coordinates; they do not snap to an expected result.
My written coordinates, quantities and reasoning
Write both coordinates as x,y; exact fractions and finite decimals are supported.
Write both coordinates as x,y; exact fractions and finite decimals are supported.
Write both coordinates as x,y; exact fractions and finite decimals are supported.
Explain your actual correspondence, construction and conditions. A written attempt is not an automatically verified proof.
Explain your actual correspondence, construction and conditions. A written attempt is not an automatically verified proof.
Explain your actual correspondence, construction and conditions. A written attempt is not an automatically verified proof.
This sequence is optional. If you add operations, complete every chosen parameter or remove the sequence. The tool generates no inverse for you.
These original cases support mathematical self-checking. They do not award marks, mastery, proof approval, physical construction competence, specialist signoff or formal assessment readiness. Positive scale factors only; unchanged images do not uniquely recover a centre. Keep general-angle construction coordinates unrounded and separately requested written coordinates at three decimal places.
Look for one transformation that works everywhere
Use the entire named correspondence to test a candidate. Equal differences P′−P suggest a translation; a common fixed centre with equal-radius turns suggests rotation; perpendicular equal-distance pairs suggest reflection; and one positive centre-to-point ratio suggests enlargement. One attractive vertex pair is not enough to establish the whole map.
Compare size and orientation as clues, while retaining the actual coordinates and labels. A rigid image has unchanged corresponding distances; a positive nonunit enlargement has one common length ratio. Reflection reverses boundary orientation, whereas the other three positive or rotational maps preserve it. These clues still need a full parameter check.
Give every parameter the description needs
A translation requires a signed column vector. A rotation requires its centre and an angle with direction. A reflection requires an actual mirror line. An enlargement requires its centre and positive scale factor. Saying only“turn”,“flip” or“make bigger” leaves essential information missing.
Check the resulting transformation on every labelled vertex, including fixed vertices and concave corners. For an enlargement with k≠1, the corresponding rays can locate a centre; for a rotation, moved pairs determine perpendicular bisectors. Use all the data to confirm the proposed parameters instead of measuring one feature and assuming the rest.
Respect equivalent answers and genuine ambiguity
Angles differing by 360° and equivalent equations of one mirror line describe the same final map. A half turn can use either sign of 180°. If a task shows only an unchanged labelled image, zero translation, a full-turn rotation or factor 1 enlargement can describe an identity; a unique rotation or enlargement centre cannot be recovered from that image alone.
The labels in these tasks specify which object vertex corresponds to each image vertex. This avoids silently permuting a symmetric figure’s corners to manufacture another answer. Give the requested object-to-image description, justify its parameters and state any actual ambiguity rather than selecting one compulsory reference description without explanation.
Sources for this lesson
- Pearson Mathematics A linear specification · Issue2 · Transformation geometry Foundation printed23/physical29 and Higher inheritance printed38/physical44
- Pearson 2026/2027 International GCSE entry manual · centre regions physical3 and Mathematics A physical25
- Pearson literal second-edition book/Hub map · Book2 Shape and Space7 physical12 · navigation only
Pause and explain
A transformation is described as a rotation of−110° about C. Which alias is valid?
Worked example
Polygon ABC has A(1,1), B(4,1), C(2,3). The corresponding image is A′(0,-2), B′(0,1), C′(-2,-1). The named image vertices correspond in the displayed order. Identify the transformation and give a complete object-to-image description; explain any equivalent angle descriptions.
Show the worked solution
- Intersect perpendicular bisectors from moved corresponding pairs, then measure the common signed object-to-image turn.
- The complete description is rotation about (2,-1) through 90° (anticlockwise for the stated sign). Substituting its parameters sends every supplied object vertex to the corresponding supplied image: A′=(0,-2), B′=(0,1), C′=(-2,-1).
- An equivalent signed angle is -270° about the same centre. The inverse description is rotation about (2,-1) through -90° (clockwise for the stated sign). Check the whole labelled correspondence rather than relying on one point or an apparent orientation.
Answer Rotation about (2,-1) through 90° (anticlockwise for the stated sign). All named pairs satisfy this same map.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
Polygon ABCD has A(0,0), B(3,0), C(4,2), D(1,3). The corresponding image is A′(1,1), B′(1,-2), C′(-1,-3), D′(-2,0). The named image vertices correspond in the displayed order. Identify the transformation and give a complete object-to-image description; explain any equivalent angle descriptions.
Give me a hint
Recover and test one complete set of parameters against every supplied named pair.
Compare my reasoning
- Use moved pairs to locate their common perpendicular bisector; fixed pairs must lie on that mirror.
- The complete description is reflection in x+y=1. Substituting its parameters sends every supplied object vertex to the corresponding supplied image: A′=(1,1), B′=(1,-2), C′=(-1,-3), D′=(-2,0).
- Equivalent nonzero multiples of the mirror equation are the same line. The inverse description is reflection in x+y=1. Check the whole labelled correspondence rather than relying on one point or an apparent orientation.
Reflection in x+y=1. All named pairs satisfy this same map.
Look for these in your work
- Distinguish translation, rotation, reflection and positive enlargement from the whole correspondence.
- Give the vector, centre/angle, mirror line or centre/factor needed for a complete description.
- Check every named vertex and retain genuine equivalent or underdetermined descriptions.
Polygon ABCDEF has A(0,0), B(4,0), C(4,1), D(1,1), E(1,3), F(0,3). The corresponding image is A′(-3,4), B′(1,4), C′(1,5), D′(-2,5), E′(-2,7), F′(-3,7). The named image vertices correspond in the displayed order. Identify the transformation and give a complete object-to-image description; explain any equivalent angle descriptions.
Give me a hint
Recover and test one complete set of parameters against every supplied named pair.
Compare my reasoning
- Subtract each object coordinate from its own named image coordinate and check the same displacement for every vertex.
- The complete description is translation by column[-3;4]. Substituting its parameters sends every supplied object vertex to the corresponding supplied image: A′=(-3,4), B′=(1,4), C′=(1,5), D′=(-2,5), E′=(-2,7), F′=(-3,7).
- The opposite column gives the inverse movement. The inverse description is translation by column[3;-4]. Check the whole labelled correspondence rather than relying on one point or an apparent orientation.
Translation by column[-3;4]. All named pairs satisfy this same map.
Look for these in your work
- Distinguish translation, rotation, reflection and positive enlargement from the whole correspondence.
- Give the vector, centre/angle, mirror line or centre/factor needed for a complete description.
- Check every named vertex and retain genuine equivalent or underdetermined descriptions.
Polygon ABCD has A(-2,1), B(1,1), C(2,4), D(-1,3). The corresponding image is A′(-2,1), B′(5/2,1), C′(4,11/2), D′(-1/2,4). The named image vertices correspond in the displayed order. Identify the transformation and give a complete object-to-image description; explain any equivalent angle descriptions.
Give me a hint
Recover and test one complete set of parameters against every supplied named pair.
Compare my reasoning
- Compare corresponding lengths to recover the positive factor, then use P′=C+k(P−C) to locate and check a common centre.
- The complete description is enlargement about (-2,1) with positive factor 3/2. Substituting its parameters sends every supplied object vertex to the corresponding supplied image: A′=(-2,1), B′=(5/2,1), C′=(4,11/2), D′=(-1/2,4).
- The reciprocal positive factor about the same centre gives the inverse. The inverse description is enlargement about (-2,1) with positive factor 2/3. Check the whole labelled correspondence rather than relying on one point or an apparent orientation.
Enlargement about (-2,1) with positive factor 3/2. All named pairs satisfy this same map.
Look for these in your work
- Distinguish translation, rotation, reflection and positive enlargement from the whole correspondence.
- Give the vector, centre/angle, mirror line or centre/factor needed for a complete description.
- Check every named vertex and retain genuine equivalent or underdetermined descriptions.
Common mistakes
- Naming only the transformation type without its parameters.
- Testing one vertex and ignoring the rest of the correspondence.
- Rejecting equivalent angles/line equations or claiming an identity has a unique recoverable centre.
What can you explain now?
An unchanged labelled image is compatible with factor 1 enlargement. Is the enlargement centre uniquely determined?
Compare with the explanation
No. Every centre produces that same identity image.
A complete proposed description may name a chosen centre, but the unchanged geometry alone does not recover a unique one.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
Your review choice appears on Today. Sign in to sync it across devices.
Make it stick
List the complete parameters for each family and explain how you would test all named vertices and handle an identity.
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.