Iowa Pesticide Applicator Practice Exam

What is one method to calculate the area of a triangle?

1. Length times width.

2. Base times height.

3. Multiply base by height and divide by two.

4. Radius squared times 3.14.

The correct answer is: Multiply base by height and divide by two.

One method to calculate the area of a triangle is to take the base of the triangle, multiply it by the height, and then divide the result by two. This is a fundamental geometric principle used universally because it effectively accounts for the triangular shape. The reasoning behind this is that the area of a triangle is essentially determined by the amount of space it occupies. The formula for the area of a triangle serves as an adaptation of the formula for calculating the area of a rectangle (length times width). Since a triangle can be thought of as half of a rectangle when drawn within the rectangle, dividing the product of the base and height by two gives you the correct area of the triangle. While other formulas and calculations might apply to different shapes or geometric contexts, such as calculating the area of rectangles or circles, the method for finding the area of a triangle specifically hinges on the base-height relationship followed by that division by two.