Java program to find the area of a Trapezium

In this article, we will understand how to find the area of a trapezium using Java. The trapezium is a type of quadrilateral that has at least one pair of sides parallel to each other. The parallel sides of a trapezium are called bases and the non-parallel sides of a trapezium are called legs. It is also called a trapezoid.

The area of a trapezium is calculated using the formula ?

(height/2 * (side_1 + side_2).
i.e.
Area = ½ x (sum of the lengths of the parallel sides) x perpendicular distance between parallel
sides

Below is a demonstration of the same. The area of a trapezium with the length of the parallel sides a and b and the height of the trapezium h is given by ?

Problem Statement

Write a program in Java to find the area of a Trapezium.

Input

side_1 = 5
side_2 = 6
height = 6

Output

Area of trapezium is: 33.0

Different approaches

Below are the different approaches to find the area of a Trapezium ?

• Using user input
• Using predefined values
  

Using user input

Following are the steps to find the area of a Trapezium using user input ?

• Import the Scanner class from java.util.
  
• Start by defining the main method.
• Declare three integer variables side_1, side_2, and height, and a float variable my_area.
  
• Initialize a Scanner object to read input values from the user.
  
• Ask the user to enter the lengths of both parallel sides and the height.
  
• Calculate the area by using the formula (height/2 * (side_1 + side_2)) and store it in my_area.
  
• Print the calculated area of the trapezium.

Example

Here, the input is entered by the user based on a prompt ?

import java.util.Scanner;
public class AreaOfTrapezium {
   public static void main(String args[]){
      // Declare variables
      int side_1, side_2, height;
      
      // Notify user of package imports and object creation
      System.out.println("Required packages have been imported");
      Scanner my_scanner = new Scanner(System.in);
      System.out.println("A reader object has been defined");
      
      // Take input from user
      System.out.print("Enter the length of the first parallel side: ");
      side_1 = my_scanner.nextInt();
      System.out.print("Enter the length of the second parallel side: ");
      side_2 = my_scanner.nextInt();
      System.out.print("Enter the height of the trapezium: ");
      height = my_scanner.nextInt();
      
      // Calculate area of trapezium using float for proper division
      float my_area = ((float)height / 2) * (side_1 + side_2);
      
      // Output the area
      System.out.println("The area of the trapezium is: " + my_area);
      
      // Close scanner
      my_scanner.close();
   }
}

Output

Required packages have been imported
A reader object has been defined
Enter the length of the first parallel side: 5
Enter the length of the first parallel side : 6
Enter the heigth of the trapezium : 6
The area of trapezium is: 33.0

Using predefined values

Following are the steps to find the area of a Trapezium using predefined value ?

• Start by defining the main method.
  
• Declare integer variables side_1, side_2, and height assign predefined values to them.
  
• Calculate the area using the formula (height/2 * (side_1 + side_2)).
  
• Print the values of side_1, side_2, height, and the calculated area.
  

Example

Here, the integer has been previously defined, and its value is accessed and displayed on the console ?

public class AreaOfTrapezium {
public static void main(String args[]){
      int side_1 = 5, side_2 = 6, height = 6;
      System.out.println("The sides and height of the trapezium is defined as " +side_1 + ", " + side_2 + " and " + height);
      float my_area = (height/2 * (side_1 + side_2));
      System.out.println("The area of Trapezium is: " + my_area);
   }
}

Output

The sides and height of the trapezium is defined as 5, 6 and 6
The area of Trapezium is: 33.0