Math please help i do not understand

Question

Here is a right triangle. What is its area?

What is the height h for the base that is  units long? Show your reasoning. include a math problem

Answer 1

Hi Karina!

One simple way to figure this out is to think outside the box! (or triangle perhaps)

We know our formula for the area of a triangle is area = 1/2 * base * height

To find the area, we can turn our triangle onto a different side. Let's stand it up tall so that the base is now (3/4 cm).

We can use our formula again, this time 1/2 * (3/4 cm) * (1 cm).

Once you calculate it, you should get 3/8 cm².

Just to prove that this method works, let's turn the triangle on the other side so that the base is 1 cm.

With the formula, we also get 1/2 * (1 cm) * (3/4 cm) = 3/8 cm², same as before!

Now we are trying to find h.

We can use our same equation to figure out the height, by plugging in the area we just figured out from before!

Area = 1/2 * (base) * (h)

3/8 cm² = 1/2 * (5/4 cm) * (h)

3/8 cm² = 5/8 cm * (h)

h = (3/8 cm² ) / (5/8 cm)

h = 3/5 cm