Area of a Triangle

Area of a Triangle

Using the definition of area, we can calculate the sum of unit squares for any object with a closed space. In the case of a triangle, a triangle has a defined length and width.

In the simulation you can input an arbitrary length and width (base and height) of your choice.






Mathematically speaking, the length is referred to as the base, and the width as the height of the triangle. A triangle is connected by three straight lines. If you were to draw a rectangle around the triangle you would notice that the triangle is split into two smaller triangles. If you draw a dashed line to measure the height of the original triangle, you will notice that the rectangle surrounding the original triangle completes the other halves of the triangle.

From this we can understand that the area of a triangle is simply half the length times the width.

\[ A = \frac{1}{2} b h \]

Since a trianle is an enclosed space on the xy plane, that would mean that the units would be meters squared:

\[ m^2 \]




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