Question

What is the area of a triangle with the vertices at (-1,-1) , (3,-1) . and (2,2)?

Answer 1

Use:
`(text{Area of triangle}) = ((height)( base)) / 2`
Plot the coordinates out on a piece of graph paper. It can then be seen that height=3 and base=4, therefore the area is 6.

Explanation:

Use:
`(text{Area of triangle}) = ((height)( base)) / 2`
Plot the coordinates out on a piece of graph paper. It can then be seen that height=3 and base=4, therefore the area is 6.

You don't even need to plot them out as the height is the difference in the y coordinates:
height = 2 - (-1) = 3.

The length of the base is the difference in the x coordinates of the two lower vertices, (-1,-1) and (3,-1):
base = 3 - (-1) = 4

Thus:
Area = `((3)(4))/2 = 12/2 = 6`