Identify the transformation that preserves size and repositions the figure.

Identify the transformation that preserves size and repositions the figure.

• A. Rotations
• B. Dilation
• C. Translations
• D. Reflections

Answer: (C)

Moving a figure without changing its size is a translation. In a translation, every point of the figure shifts the same distance in the same direction, so the shape and size stay exactly the same, only its position changes. That’s why it repositions the figure without altering how big or how it looks. Rotations would move it by turning it around a point, which changes orientation. Reflections flip it to a mirror image, also changing orientation. Dilation changes the size, making the figure bigger or smaller. So the transformation that preserves size and simply repositions is a translation.

Moving a figure without changing its size is a translation. In a translation, every point of the figure shifts the same distance in the same direction, so the shape and size stay exactly the same, only its position changes. That’s why it repositions the figure without altering how big or how it looks. Rotations would move it by turning it around a point, which changes orientation. Reflections flip it to a mirror image, also changing orientation. Dilation changes the size, making the figure bigger or smaller. So the transformation that preserves size and simply repositions is a translation.