Do You Need Help Interpreting an Area Formula?

Area is the number of square units inside of a shape. The shape is two dimensional (like a floor, or a piece of carpet, or a piece of land).

Since the area is measuring the number of square units inside of the shape, the units must be written as squared units (ex: cm2).

Below you will find the area formula for several different geometric shapes. In addition to the formula, you will find an example. This will help you to better understand the formula.

Many of the area formulas require you to know the height of the shape. The height of the shape is always the distance from the top of the shape to the bottom. The height must be a straight, vertical line.

Keep this page handy as you study formulas and solve real world problems throughout your algebra studies!





Area of a Square

A square has 4 sides that are all exactly the same size. Therefore, finding the area is pretty easy! Since the area of a square or rectangle is length x width, we can just square the length of the side! Take a look!

formula for area of a square




Area of a Rectangle

A rectangle is a 4 sided figure with two pairs of parallel lines. Each set of parallel lines has the same length. To find the area of a rectangle we are going to multiply the length x the width.




formula for area of a rectangle




Area of a Parallelogram

A parallelogram is another 4 sided figure with two pairs of parallel lines. To find the area of a parallelogram, we will multiply the base x the height. Let's look at the formula and example.




formula for area of a parallelogram




Area of a Trapezoid

A trapezoid is a 4 sided figure formed by one pair of parallel sides. This area formula is a little more complicated. Study the example carefully!



formula for area of a trapezoid




Area of a Triangle

A triangle is a 3 sided figure. There are several different types of triangles. You must be careful when trying to locate the height of the triangle. Remember the height of the shape must be a straight, vertical line.




formula for area of a triangle




Area of a Circle

A circle, of course, has no straight lines. We use pi (3.14) when we calculate the area of a circle.




formula for area of a circle





Return from Area Formula to Algebra Formulas

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