TRANSFORMATIONS

A transformation is a change in the size, position or orientation of a two dimensional figure.

There are four major transformations:
•Reflection •Translation •Rotation •Enlargement

REFLECTION
Reflections are obtained when you draw the image that would be obtained in a mirror.
Distances are always measured at right angles to the mirror line.

Properties of a reflection:
• The object and image are equidistant from the mirror line.
• The object and image are congruent (same shape and size).
• The image is laterally inverted and upright.
7

5
IMAGE MIRROR LINE
4
A 𝑦=3
3 𝑥 = 0 (y axis)
B
2 𝑦=𝑥
C
D
1
D
0
-7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
-1

-2

-3

SYMMETRY
A figure has line symmetry if it can be folded along a line and the two halves match. The folded line is a line of
symmetry.
A figure has rotational symmetry if it can be turned about a point through an angle less than 360o so that it matches
the original figure. The order of rotational symmetry is the number of ways in which rotational symmetry can be
preserved.

Number of lines Order of rotational Number of lines Order of rotational

of symmetry symmetry of symmetry symmetry
TRANSLATION
A translation moves all the points of an object in the same direction and the same distance.
𝑥
Translations are described by column vector in the form ( 𝑦 ).
𝑥: movement to the right (+) or left (-)
𝑦: movement up (+) or down (-)

Geometrical Properties of a Translation:

• The object and image are congruent (same shape and size).
• The object and image have the same orientation.

5 IMAGE TRANSLATION
4 3
A ( )
4
3 −5
B ( )
2
2
−7
C ( )
1 0

0
-7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 D
-1

-2

-3

-4
D
-5

-6

-7

-8

GLIDE REFLECTION
A glide reflection is a combination of a reflection and a translation that is parallel to the mirror line.

Object

Image
ROTATION
Rotations are obtained when a shape is turned about a fixed point, through a specified angle.

To describe a rotation fully, the following are needed:

• The centre of rotation
• The direction (clockwise or anticlockwise)
• The angle of turn

Geometrical Properties of a Rotation:

• The object and image are congruent (same shape and size).
• The object and image equidistant from the centre of rotation.

4 A B

1
C
0
-7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
-1 C+ A+
-2

-3
B+
-4

-5

-6

-7

CENTRE OF
IMAGE ANGLE DIRECTION
ROTATION
A’B’C’ (0,0) 90o Anticlockwise

A”B”C” (0,0) 180o Anticlockwise

A*B*C* (3,4) 180o Clockwise

A+B+C+
ENLARGEMENT
An enlargement occurs when a figure changes in size. To describe an enlargement fully, the following are needed:
• The centre of enlargement
• The scale factor (k)

𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑒

𝑘= 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒
𝑘 2 = 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 i.e Area of Image = Area of Object × 𝑘 2

o When the scale factor is a fraction, the image is smaller than the object
o When the scale factor is negative, the image is on the opposite side of the centre of enlargement.

Geometrical Properties of an Enlargement

• The object and image are similar. (The angles are the same size and the ratio of corresponding sides is the same.)
• The image of a point, the point itself, and the centre of enlargement are collinear.

3
A B
2

1
C* 0 C
-7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
-1

-2

-3

-4
B* A*
-5

-6

-7

CENTRE OF SCALE
IMAGE
ENLARGEMENT FACTOR
A’B’C’ (0,0) 4

A”B”C” (0,2) 3

A*B*C*
PAST PAPER QUESTIONS
1) Jan 2016
i) Write down the coordinates of the vertices of
∆ABC [1]
ii) Write down the coordinates of the vertices of
∆A’B’C’. [1]
iii) Describe fully the transformation that maps
triangle ABC onto triangle A’B’C’. [2]
iv) Draw the line x=1 and the triangle A”B”C”, the
image of ∆ABC after a reflection in the line x=1
[3]
v) State one geometrical relationship among ∆ABC,
∆A’B’C’ and ∆A”B”C”. [1]

2) June 2015
The diagram below shows a triangle PQR and its
image, triangle P’Q’R’, after an enlargement centered
at the point C on the diagram.
Use the information from the diagram to complete
the statements below.

(i) The size of the scale factor is………….. [1]

(ii) The scale factor is negative because

……………………………………………………… [1]

(iii) The length of PQ is √13 units, therefore, the

length of P’Q’ is…….............. [1]

(iv) The area of triangle PQR is ………….… [1]

(v) The area of P’Q’R’ is ……………. times the area of

triangle PQR which is ………….. [2]

 R
3) Jan 2012
Q
The diagram below shows a triangle, PQR, and its image
P’Q’R’.
(i) State the coordinates of P and Q. [2]
P (ii) Describe fully the transformation that maps the
0 triangle PQR onto triangle P’Q’R’. [2]
P’ (iii) Write down the coordinates of the images of P and
3
Q under the translation ( )
−6

Q’
R’

4 4) Jan 2014
L 3 i) State the coordinates of the vertex J, of triangle
2
JKL. _______________ [1]
J 1
K ii) State the length of the side K’L’ of triangle J’K’L’
0
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 __________________ [1]
-1 K'
L'
-2 iii) Describe FULLY a single transformation that maps

-3 triangle JKL onto triangle J’K’L’. [2]

-4
J'
-5
iv) State the coordinates of triangle J”K”L”, the
image of triangle JKL under translation by the
5
vector ( ). [2]
−3
8 5) June 2013
7 The graph shows triangle LMN and its image L’M’N’
N
after undergoing a single transformation.
6 N'

5 (i) Describe fully the transformation that maps

∆𝐿𝑀𝑁 onto ∆𝐿′𝑀′𝑁′. [2]
4 L M M' L'
3
(ii) Draw triangle L”M”N” the image of triangle
0
LMN, after a translation by the vector ( ) [2]
2 −3
1 (iii) Name and describe a combination of TWO
0 transformations which may be used to map
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 ∆𝐿"𝑀"𝑁" onto ∆𝐿′𝑀′𝑁′. [3]

6) June 2009
The diagram below shows triangles A, B and D. The line
D y=x is also drawn

(a) Describe fully, the single transformation which maps

triangle A onto
(i) triangle D
A
(ii) triangle B

B (b) State the coordinates of the vertices of the triangle C,

the image of triangle A after a reflection in the line y=x.
[4]
 7) Jan 2008
The diagram below shows a pattern made of congruent right-
angled triangles. In each triangle, the sides meeting at a right angle
B
are 1 unit and 2 units long.

(i) Describe FULLY the single transformation that

H
C will map triangle BCL onto triangle FHL. [3]
L
(ii) Describe FULLY the single transformation that
will map triangle BCL onto triangle HFG. [3]
F G

8) Jan 2011
The diagram shows triangle RST and its image R’S’T’ after a transformation.

(i) Write down the

coordinates of R and R’.

(ii) Describe completely the

transformation which maps
triangle RST onto triangle
R’S’T’. [3]

(iii) RST undergoes an

enlargement, centre, (0, 4),
scale factor, 3.

S a)Draw triangle R”S”T”,

the image of triangle RST
under the enlargement.

T b) Given that the area of

triangle RST is 4 square
R units, calculate the area
of triangle R”S”T”.

c) State TWO geometrical

relationships between
triangles RST and R”S”T”.
[7]
R’
T’

S’
 9) Jan 2009
L is mapped onto M by a translation.

M 𝑥
(i) State, in the form (𝑦), the vector which represents
the translation.
[2]

(ii) L is mapped onto N by an enlargement:

L
a) Find and label on your answer sheet the point G,
the centre of enlargement. Show your method
N
clearly.

b) State the coordinates of G.

(iii) State the scale factor of the enlargement. . [4]

10) Jan 2018

The diagram shows triangle PQR.
(a) State the coordinates of R. [1]
(b) On the diagram above, draw
(i) ∆ P'Q'R', a reflection of ∆PQR in the line y =1 [2]
(ii) ∆ P" Q" R", a reflection of ∆ P'Q'R' in the line x = 0 [2]
(c) Describe, fully, the single transformation that maps
∆ P" Q" R", onto ∆PQR [3]
(d) Triangle PQR undergoes an enlargement of scale factor 2.
Calculate the area of its image. [2]
 11) June 2008

(i) The figure labelled P undergoes a transformation, such

that its image is Q. Describe this transformation
P completely. [1]

(ii) Draw and label

a) the line y=x
b) S, the image of P under the reflection
in the line y=x [4]

12) Jan 2004

The diagram shows triangle XYZ and its image X’Y’Z’ under a
reflection, R.
z’ Y’
(i) Draw the mirror line and label it M.
Z
(ii) Write down the intercept of the mirror line M.
X’

Y X
 13) June 2017
The diagram below shows the triangle ABC, and its image
A’B’C’, under a single transformation.

(i) Describe completely the transformation that maps

∆ABC, to ∆A’B’C’. [3]
1
(ii) The translation vector 𝑇 = ( ) maps ∆ A’B’C’, to
−2
∆ A”B”C”. Draw ∆A”B”C” on the diagram. [2]

14) June 2018

The diagram shows the triangle OPQ

i) State the coordinates of the point Q [1]

ii) The line PQ is mapped to P’Q' by an

enlargement, centre O and scale factor 3.
On the diagram above, draw the line P’Q’.
[2]

iii) The ∆ OPQ undergoes a reflection in the line

y = 0 to produce the image O”P”Q” .
On the diagram, draw the A O”P”Q”. [2]
 6
15) June 2019
B
4 Triangle ABC with vertices A(1, 1), B(1, 4) and C
(3, 1) is shown in the diagram.

2 ∆ABC is mapped onto ∆LMN by a reflection in

the x axis followed by a reflection in the y axis.
A C
0 i) On the diagram, draw and label ∆LMN [2]
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 ii) Describe FULLY the transformation which
maps ∆ABC onto ∆LMN [2]
-2 iii) State the 2 x 2 matrix that maps ∆ABC onto
∆LMN [1]

-4

-6

16) Jan 2021

The letter ‘A’ and a point C (6, 6) are shown on

the grid. On the diagram, draw accurately,
EACH of the following transformations.

(i) The enlargement of letter ‘A’ by scale factor

2, about centre (6, 6) [2]

(ii) The translation of letter ‘A’ using the vector

−3
𝑇 = ( ). [2]
2
17) July 2021

(i) Triangle X is marked onto Triangle Y by a

reflection. State the equation of the mirror
line. [1]

(ii) Describe fully the transformation which

maps Triangle X onto Triangle Z. [2]

−7
(iii) Translate Triangle Y using the vector ( ).
1
Label this image V. [1]
(iv) Enlarge Triangle X about the center C (0, 0)
and scale factor ½ . Label this image W.[2]

18) June 2022

The diagram shows four shapes, P, Q, R and S on a
square grid.

a) Describe fully, the single transformation that

maps shape P onto shape
i) Q [3]
ii) R [2]
iii) S [2]

b) On the grid provided, draw the image of shape P

−2
after a translation by the vector ( ). Label this
3
image T. [1]