What is Line Symmetry?
Line symmetry (also called mirror symmetry) happens when you can draw a straight line through a shape and both sides are exact mirror images of each other. If you folded the shape along that line, the two halves would match perfectly.
Think of it like a butterfly: if you draw an imaginary line down the middle of its body, the left wing is a perfect mirror of the right wing. That's line symmetry!
Many shapes have line symmetry. A square has 4 lines of symmetry. A rectangle has 2. An equilateral triangle has 3. Some shapes have no lines of symmetry at all, like a scalene triangle (one where all sides are different lengths).
What is Rotational Symmetry?
Rotational symmetry happens when you can turn a shape around a point in its centre, and it looks exactly the same at some point during the turn—before it completes a full 360-degree rotation.
Think of it like a ceiling fan: when you spin it, it looks the same every time it rotates a quarter turn. That's rotational symmetry!
We describe rotational symmetry by its order. If a shape has rotational symmetry of order 2, it looks the same twice as you turn it (every 180 degreessquare has rotational symmetry of order 4 because it looks the same 4 times during a full spin (every 90 degrees). A circle has infinite rotational symmetry because it looks identical no matter how much you rotate it.
The Key Difference
Line symmetry is about mirror images—folding. Rotational symmetry is about spinning and turning. A shape can have line symmetry, rotational symmetry, both, or neither! For example, a square has both types of symmetry, but a rectangle (that isn't a square) has line symmetry but only rotational symmetry of order 2.