Area of a triangle is calculated using which formula?

Area of a triangle is calculated using which formula?

• A. Area = 1/2 base x height
• B. Area = base x height
• C. Area = length x width
• D. Area = base + height

Answer: (A)

Area is found by taking half of the product of the base and the height. The base is any side you choose to sit as the bottom, and the height is the perpendicular distance from that base to the opposite vertex. If you imagine extending the triangle to form a rectangle with the same base and height, that rectangle has area base × height. A triangle, however, is exactly half of that rectangle, so its area is (base × height) ÷ 2. Why the other ideas don’t fit: base × height describes a rectangle’s area, not a triangle’s. Length × width is also a rectangle’s area. Adding base and height has no relation to area. Example: with a base of 6 and a height of 4, the area is 1/2 × 6 × 4 = 12 square units.

Area is found by taking half of the product of the base and the height. The base is any side you choose to sit as the bottom, and the height is the perpendicular distance from that base to the opposite vertex. If you imagine extending the triangle to form a rectangle with the same base and height, that rectangle has area base × height. A triangle, however, is exactly half of that rectangle, so its area is (base × height) ÷ 2.

Why the other ideas don’t fit: base × height describes a rectangle’s area, not a triangle’s. Length × width is also a rectangle’s area. Adding base and height has no relation to area.

Example: with a base of 6 and a height of 4, the area is 1/2 × 6 × 4 = 12 square units.