How do you find the area of a triangle given a=3, b=7, c=8?

1 Answer
Jul 10, 2015

Use Heron's formula to find the area of the triangle = #6sqrt(3)#

Explanation:

Given three sides of a triangle: #a, b, c#
and the semi-perimeter #s = (a+b+c)/2#

Heron's formula says that the area of the triangle can be calculated as:
#color(white)("XXXX")##A= sqrt(s(s-a)(s-b)(s-c))#

Given: #color(white)("XXXX")##a=3##color(white)("XXXX")##b=7##color(white)("XXXX")##c=8#
#color(white)("XXXX")##s=9#
and the area is
#color(white)("XXXX")##A = sqrt(9*6*2*1)#
#color(white)("XXXX")##color(white)("XXXX")##=sqrt(108)#
#color(white)("XXXX")##color(white)("XXXX")##=6sqrt(3)#