Finding the Area of a Trapezoid (Alternate Approach)

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Taught by muchomath
  • Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
6561 views | 1 rating
Meets NCTM Standards:
Lesson Summary:

In this lesson, Mr. Perez shows an alternate approach to finding the area of a trapezoid by summing the areas of a rectangle and a right triangle. He explains step-by-step how to find the perimeter and area of a figure using this method. By breaking down the trapezoid into simpler shapes, students can more easily visualize and calculate its area.

Lesson Description:

Finding the Area of a Trapezoid by summing the areas of a rectangle and a right triangle.

Created by and copyright of Larry Perez. Funded by the state of California through Saddleback College. More information on videos, resources, and lessons at Algebra2Go.

Questions answered by this video:
  • How do you find the area and perimeter of a trapezoid?
  • What is an alternate method for finding the area of a trapezoid?
  • How do you find the area of a trapezoid if you cannot remember the formula?
  • How can you find the area of a trapezoid by splitting it into a triangle and rectangle?
  • How do you find the area of a trapezoid with bases 11in. and 16in., a height of 12in., and a diagonal fourth side of 13in.?
  • Staff Review

    • Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
    This lesson shows an alternate method of finding the area of a trapezoid. This is great if you cannot remember the formula for the area of a trapezoid. This method consists of splitting the trapezoid into a triangle and rectangle. This will work with any trapezoid.