Whereas a parallelogram has two pairs of parallel sides, a trapezoid is a quadrilateral with only one pair of parallel sides. The formula for the area of any trapezoid is where and are the lengths of each base of the parallel pair. We can all agree that this formula is a little more complex than […]
The formula for the areas of parallelograms and triangles are very similar to that for rectangles. Again, all we need is the length of the base and height. First, let’s look at parallelograms. A parallelogram is any four-sided shape (quadrilateral) with two pairs of parallel sides. Looking at the parallelogram in Figure 2, you might notice
The area of any rectangle is the product of its base and height. Since squares are special rectangles with four equal sides, their areas are found as the product of two sides (See Figure 1). Once you have chosen one side as your base, keep in mind that the segment chosen as your height must be perpendicular (forms a right angle)
Students frequently encounter problems in calculating the area of shapes ranging from simple triangles to complicated shapes. Not many students realize, however, that they intuitively determine areas of various surfaces every day. You know right away that your iPad has a larger area than your laptop and fits in your backpack more easily. You don’t
