4.3 Area of a Parallelogram

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4.3 - Area of a Parallelogram
Side A
A parallelogram has two sets of parallel lines
Side C
Side D
Side A is parallel to Side B
Side B
Side C is parallel to Side D
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Area of a Parallelogram
8 cm
Remember the area of a rectangle is the length
x width A L x W A 5 cm x 8 cm A 40 cm2
5 cm
A parallelogram is like a rectangle with two
triangles attached
You have now made a rectangle with the same area
as the parallelogram
We can calculate the area of the parallelogram by
multiplying the length by the height
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The length of the parallelogram is 8 cm. We call
this a base. The side is 5 cm.
H 4 cm
5 cm
8 cm
To calculate the area, we need to know the height
because when we change this from a parallelogram
to a rectangle, the side of the rectangle is
equal to the height .
If we move the red part to the other side we have
a rectangle.
A bh A 8 cm x 4 cm A 32 cm2
The area of the parallelogram is 32 cm2
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Parallelogram Practice
What is the area? A bh A 4 m x 2 m A 8 m2
2 m
3 m
4 m
What is the area?
5 cm
4 cm
9 cm