Calculate the Area of an Isosceles Trapezoid with Height 3 and Side Length 4

Question

Given an isosceles trapezoid

What is your area?

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Video Solution

Solution Steps

00:04 Let's find the area of this trapezoid.
00:07 Remember, in an isosceles trapezoid, opposite sides are equal.
00:19 Okay, we'll use the formula for the trapezoid's area.
00:24 Add the lengths of the top and bottom bases, then multiply by the height. Finally, divide by 2.
00:34 We have the height, but we don't know the lengths of the bases.
00:39 So, we can't calculate the area just yet.
00:43 And that's how we approach this problem!

Step-by-Step Solution

For the trapezoid, we recognize that to calculate the area, we typically need both base lengths and the height. The area formula for a trapezoid is A=12×(b1+b2)×h A = \frac{1}{2} \times (b_1 + b_2) \times h , but we lack the values of the bases b1 b_1 and b2 b_2 . Thus, with given only the leg lengths as 4 units and height as 3 units, and without base lengths, calculation of area is impossible.

Therefore, the solution is that it is not possible to calculate the area with the provided information.

Answer

It is not possible to calculate