Calculate the area of the trapezoid in the diagram.
Calculate the area of the trapezoid in the diagram.
To determine the area of the trapezoid, we will use the formula for the area of a trapezoid:
From the problem, the two bases are and . The height is .
Substituting into the formula, we have:
Simplifying the expression inside the parenthesis gives:
Distributing through the terms inside the parenthesis gives:
Continuing the simplification:
Which simplifies to:
Therefore, the area of the trapezoid is cm².
Through comparison, this expression matches the given choice: cm², which corresponds to choice .
Thus, the correct area of the trapezoid is cm².
cm².