How to Find the Area of a Triangle (Given the Height)

    Hey, hey! I'm back, and I only have a little bit of time to post this one because I'm doing it from a school computer, but anyway. This one is going to be about how to find the area of a triangle, if you already know the length of the base and the height of the triangle.
    The first thing you need to know is the formula for area of a triangle:

Area=1/2bh (which is read as one half times the length of the base times the height of the triangle)

   So, just for example, say you have a triangle with a base length of 8 and a height of 7.

NOTE: (the 'b' in the formula stands for the length of the base and the 'h' stands for the height and you'll sometimes see the area bit as a capital 'A')

    Now, plug your values into your formula:

A= 1/2(8)(7)

First you're going to multiply your 1/2 by 8. When you multiply fractions (like 1/2) by whole numbers (like 8) just take the fraction amount of the whole number (take one half of 8). You should get 4 (half of 8 is 4):

A=(4)(7)

NOTE: (when you have numbers right next to each other in parenthesis, you multiply them, so in this case, you would multiply 4 and 7)

4 times 7 is 28 so your area is 28 square units

NOTE:(if you're wondering where the 'square units' came from, just know that whenever you find area, you tack 'square units' on the end; however, if you are using a specific measurement while finding the area [say, in the problem we just worked, you were using 8 and 7 inches, you would have, for your final answer, 28 square inches], put that on the end of the square units part.)

  A= 28 square units

Remember, if you need more help on finding the area of a triangle given the height, go to www.khanacademy.org

Bye for now
-Meredith