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Area of A Triangle

This document discusses how to calculate the area of a triangle. It explains that the area of a triangle is one-half the base times the height. Several examples are provided of calculating areas of different types of triangles using this formula. The key points are that the base and height must be perpendicular, and the area can be calculated if either the base or height are given along with the area.

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140 views2 pages

Area of A Triangle

This document discusses how to calculate the area of a triangle. It explains that the area of a triangle is one-half the base times the height. Several examples are provided of calculating areas of different types of triangles using this formula. The key points are that the base and height must be perpendicular, and the area can be calculated if either the base or height are given along with the area.

Uploaded by

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Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Area of a Triangle

Unit 1 >
Lesson 4 of 8

The area of a polygon is the number of square units inside that polygon.
Area is 2-dimensional like a carpet or an area rug. A triangle is a threesided polygon. We will look at several types of triangles in this lesson.
To find the area of a triangle, multiply the base by the height, and then
divide by 2. The division by 2 comes from the fact that
a parallelogram can be divided into 2 triangles. For example, in the
diagram to the left, the area of each triangle is equal to one-half the
area of the parallelogram.
Since the area of a parallelogram is
, the area of a triangle must be one-half the area
of a parallelogram. Thus, the formula for the area of a triangle is:
or
where

is the base,

is the height and means multiply.

The base and height of a triangle must be perpendicular to each other. In each of the examples
below, the base is a side of the triangle. However, depending on the triangle, the height may or
may not be a side of the triangle. For example, in the right triangle in Example 2, the height is a
side of the triangle since it is perpendicular to the base. In the triangles in Examples 1 and 3,
the lateral sides are not perpendicular to the base, so a dotted line is drawn to represent the
height.

Example 1: Find the area of an acute triangle with a base of 15 inches


and a height of 4 inches.
Solution:
=

(15 in) (4 in)

= (60 in2)
= 30 in2
Example 2: Find the area of a right triangle with a base of 6 centimeters
and a height of 9 centimeters.
Solution:
=

(6 cm) (9 cm)

(54 cm2)

= 27 cm2
Example 3: Find the area of an obtuse triangle with a base of 5 inches
and a height of 8 inches.
Solution:
=

(5 in) (8 in)

= (40 in2)
= 20 in2

Example 4: The area of a triangular-shaped mat is 18 square feet and


the base is 3 feet. Find the height. (Note: The triangle in the
illustration to the right is NOT drawn to scale.)
Solution:
In this example, we are given the area of a triangle and one
dimension, and we are asked to work backwards to find the
other dimension.

18 ft2 = \B7 (3 ft)


Multiplying both sides of the equation by 2, we get:
36 ft2 = (3 ft)
Dividing both sides of the equation by 3 ft, we get:
12 ft =
Commuting this equation, we get:
= 12 ft
Summary:

Given the base and the height of a triangle, we can find the
area. Given the area and either the base or the height of a
triangle, we can find the other dimension. The formula for
area of a triangle is:
where is the base, is the
or
height

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