1. anonymous

|dw:1436931454185:dw|

2. anonymous

Would the answer be 12 in. ^2

3. jtvatsim

Yes! You are correct! Actually, you can see that one corner fits perfectly into the other to make a rectangle. |dw:1436932124281:dw| The area is then given by 6in x 2in = 12 in ^2.

4. anonymous

|dw:1436931904321:dw|

5. anonymous

Do you know how I can solve this?

6. anonymous

@jtvatsim

7. jtvatsim

Well, if you stare at the picture for a bit, you'll realize that you actually have two triangles. |dw:1436932291925:dw|

8. jtvatsim

Do you know how to find the area of a triangle?

9. anonymous

$base \times height \div 2$

10. anonymous

@jtvatsim Would it be 7 cm x 4cm?

11. jtvatsim

You are close. There are actually a lot of triangles that you could find the area of, after thinking about these these two are easier to work with... |dw:1436932671767:dw| The big triangle on the right has base 4cm and height 7cm. The big triangle on the left has base 4 cm and height 3 cm. Add these two areas together to get: 1/2(4cm)(7cm) + 1/2(4cm)(3cm) = 14cm^2 + 6cm^2 = 20cm^2.

12. jtvatsim

Does that make sense? Any questions? :)

13. anonymous

4x3=12 12/2=6

14. anonymous

7x4=28 28/2=14 So..... the answer is 20 cm^2

15. jtvatsim

That is correct!