How to find the Area of a Parallelogram
Video How to find the Area of a Parallelogram
The formula for finding the area of a parallelogram equals base times height or A=b*h
Please note, the height is not the length of a side but is the distance from base to base. Please see the drawing below.
Problem 1. What is the area of a parallelogram with a base of 8 units and sides of 5 units and a height of 4 units?
Step 1. Multiply the base of 8 units times the height of 4 units.
Step 2. 8*4 = 32 units squared
Problem 2. What is the area of a parallelogram that has a side of 6 units, a base of 10 units and an angle measure of 60 degrees?
Step 1. Find the altitude. If you draw a vertex straight down it creates a triangle. See picture below. The triangle is a 30-60-90 triangle. I can use the 30-60-90 rules to find the height of the parallelogram.
The rules of a 30-60-90 are as follows:
Short leg =x
Long leg = x√3
Hypotenuse = 2x
Step 2. The length of the side leg equals 6 and is my hypotenuse in my triangle
Therefore, 6 =2x so x =3
Step 3. Now that I know x I can find the height by finding the length of the long leg
long leg=3√3
Step 4. Use area equals base * height or A =b*h
10 * 3√3 = 30√3 units^2
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