Calculating Trapezoid Area: Finding the Area of ABCD with 5 and 11 Unit Bases

Question

Look at the following trapezoid:

AAABBBCCCDDD511

Calculate the area of trapezoid ABCD.

Video Solution

Solution Steps

00:03 Let's find the area of the trapezoid.
00:07 We'll use the formula for the area of a trapezoid.
00:11 Add the lengths of the bases, A B and D C, multiply by the height, H, then divide by two.
00:19 Let's plug in the numbers and solve for the area.
00:37 We'll simplify the terms and find the result.
00:47 And that's how we solve this problem!

Step-by-Step Solution

To solve this problem, we'll follow these steps:

  • Step 1: Identify the given information.
  • Step 2: Apply the formula for the area of a trapezoid.
  • Step 3: Perform the calculations.

Now, let's work through each step:
Step 1: We identify from the problem that AB=5AB = 5, CD=11CD = 11, and the height h=4h = 4.
Step 2: The formula for the area of a trapezoid is:
Area=12×(Base1+Base2)×Height \text{Area} = \frac{1}{2} \times (\text{Base}_1 + \text{Base}_2) \times \text{Height} Here, Base1=5\text{Base}_1 = 5 and Base2=11\text{Base}_2 = 11.
Step 3: Substitute the values into the formula:
Area=12×(5+11)×4=12×16×4 \text{Area} = \frac{1}{2} \times (5 + 11) \times 4 = \frac{1}{2} \times 16 \times 4 =12×64=32 = \frac{1}{2} \times 64 = 32

Therefore, the solution to the problem is Area=32 \text{Area} = 32 .

Answer

28