51772018 1 Easy Ways to Find the Area of @ Shape (with Pictures) How to Find the Area of a Shape ‘Sevnatnode: Squares Rectangles and Partnagrime Tapeoid Circles Sectors Elite Tangle Complex Shapes ‘There are many diferent shapes and many reasons why you might want to know their areal Whether youre doing your homework or trying to figure out how much paint youll need to refurbish that lving room, wikiHow has your back! Just ge started with Step 1 below to leam how to calculate the area of a shape, 7") Squares, Rectangles, and Paralleograms {Measure the width and height Yu neod to start by finding the wid and height ofthe shape (in other words, by finding the measure of two adjoining sides). + For a parallelogram, you'l need to use what are called the base and vertical height, but these are the same idea as width and height. + Inthe real world, youl have to measure for yourself but for your homework your teacher should have these measurements listed with the shape. D. Muttiply the sides, Mutipy the sides by each ater, For example, if you have a rectangle wih a height of 16 in and a width of 42 in, youll need to multiply 16 x 42. + Ifyou're calculating the area of a square you can actually save yourself some time when using a calculator and just square the side. So, i the side is 4 ft, click 4 and then the square button on your ccaloulator to get the answer. Squaring automatically multiples the numper by itself. Set your result. Tho rosuling number rm the multiplication isthe ara of your shape, which s writen as "square units’. So the area for our rectangle would be 672 square inches. + This is also sometimes referred to as inches square or written with a small 2 above the text ling instead of the word "square. [3°] Teapezoia Take your measurements, You nood the measurement ofthe base, the top, and the vertical height. The base and top are the two parallel sides, white the height willbe taken on one of the sides withthe angle. + Inthe real world, yout have to measure for yourself but for your homework your teacher should have these measurements listed with the shape. D._Aad the top and base measurements, Lot's say ours has @ top tha's Som and a base that’s 7em, That sives us a value of 12, J Mutipty that value by 12, That gives us a vale of 6 A, Mutity that vatue by the height For our trapezoid e's say that that's Gem. That gives usa value of 36. itpsswww.wikinow.comiFindshe-Area-ofa-Shape 4851772018 1 Easy Ways to Find the Area of @ Shape (with Pictures) 5) Setyour result. The resulting number ater you mutpy he height s the area of he tapers, So for ou ‘5x67 trapezoid, the area is 36 square om. S| Circles Find the radius norer to fr the area ofa crt, youl need to know the radius This isthe ‘measurement of the distance between the center of the circle and the outside edge, You can also find this by taking the diameter, or the measurement ofthe width ofthe circle, and dividing it in ha + Inthe real world, you'll have to measure for yourself but for your homework your teacher should have these measurements listed with the shape. ._Sauare the radius. Mut the rasus times ise Le's say we have aradus thats 8 fost, That ves us a value of 64 Mutsy by i. P(r) 8a realy big number that is used in ots of calculations f youre using a caleulatr, se the pi function fora really accurate result. f not, you can round pi (Ignore some of the numbers) and lust multiply by 3.14189. This gives us a value of 201.0676. A Set your rest. the resutng number, 207.6178 in our case, fs the area of he cle. Sowe get esut of 201.08176 square feet Sectors 4 Tee your measurements. Sectors are porions of ile, that come out looking a bit ike fans. You need to know the radius ofthe original etc, of one side of your “fan", as well as the angle ofthe point. For us, les say we have a radius of 14 inches and an angle of 60. + nthe real world, you'll have to measure far yourself but for your homework your teacher should have these measurements listed with the shape. DSeuore the radius, Mutipy he racus times ise This gives us a value of 195 (14x14, 3 Muttoty by i. (ni really big number that i used in os of calculations. youre using a calculator, use the pl function fora realy accurate result. f not, you can round pi (Ignore some of the numbers) and just multiply by 3.14159, That gives us a value of 615.75164, A Divide the angle by 360 Now, yout need take the angle ofthe point and ivi that umber by 360 (which isthe number of degrees in a circle). For us, we get a value of roughly 166. It's technically a repeating number, but we're going to round to make the math easier. 5) Multiply the resulting number by the number you got earlier. Multiply the number you get when you divide by 360 by the number you got earlier after you muliply by pi. For us, his gives a result of about 102,214. G Set your result. This resuting numbers the area of your sectr, making our sector 102214 square hitpsswww.wikinowcomiFindshe-Area-ofa-Shape 2851772018 1 Easy Ways to Find the Area of @ Shape (with Pictures) (F] Ellipses 4 Set your measurements. To get the are a an elie, youl need to know the wo Yao, which you can think of as the width and the height each divided in half. These are the measurements from the center to the middle of the long side and from the center to the middle ofthe short side. The measurement lines should form aright angle + Inthe real world, you! have to measure for yourself but for your homework your teacher should have these measurements listed with the shape. D_ Multiply the two radi For us, ots say that the ellpse i 8 inches wide and 4 inches tall. This gives us radi of 3 inches and 2 inches. Now, we'll mutiply those numbers by each other, giving us 6 (3x2). 3 _Mutipty that number by pi. Pi) sa realy big number that is used in ts of calelations. yout using a calculator, use the pi function for a really accurate result. Ifnot, you can round pi (ignore some of the numbers) and just multioly by 3.14159. That gives us a value of 18.84954, A, Get your rest. That esuting number isthe area of your elise. Fr us, that means our lips is 18,84954 square inches, e"| Tangle 4 Fina your measurements. Youll need to know the base measurement of the angle aswell asthe height. The base can be any side of the triangle, as long as you can also measure the height, Le's say that we have a triangle with a base of 3 meters and a height of 1 meter. + Inthe real world you'l have to measure for yourself but for your homework your teacher should have these measurements listed with the shape. ‘2 Mutiny the base by the height Fors, hs ves a value of 3 (3x). 3 Mute that valu by 172. This gives usa value of 1.6, A, Sst your resutt. That resting value isthe are ofthe triangle. So we gota rest of 1.5 square meters, [77] Compex shapes 4 Break the shape down into sections. You have to start ning the area for complex shapes by breaking the shape down into geometric shapes, Ike those discussed above. On homework assignments it will probably be pretty clear cut what those shapes should be, butin the real world, you might need to break an area up into a lot of shapes in order to get really accurate. +A good place to start is by looking for right angles and parallel ines. These serve as the basis of many shapes. 2 hitpsswww.wikinowcomiFindshe-Area-ofa-Shape 3851772018 1 Easy Ways to Find the Area of @ Shape (with Pictures) pes. Use the instructions above to find the area ofthe different shapes. Aud the shapes together Ads the esuting areas together inorder to get the total area for your shape U8 altemative methods. Thre are other teks you can ty too, dapenting onthe shape, You can also ty ‘adding imaginary space in order to make the shape a standard geometric shape, and then subiracting the ‘area ofthat imaginary space after you get your result, for example, You're helping people by reading wikiHow wikiHow’s mission is to help people learn, and we really hope this article helped you. Now you are helping thers, just by visiting wikiHow. Playworks is @ nonprofit that leverages the power of play to transform children’s social and emotional health, During the 2017-2018 school year, Playworks will ensure that 1 million children from over 2,000 schools, experience safe and healthy play every day. Click below to let us know you read this article, and wikilow will donate to Playworks on your behalf. Thanks for helping us achieve our mission of helping people learn how to do anything, Yes, |read the article ‘Community Q&A How can I calculate the area of a parallelogram with a base of 12cm, height of 5 cm, and the ‘The area of a parallelogram isthe base multiplied by the height oe etapa 1 Hagan 8 A.hexagonal prism is 13 em long and has a volume of 370.5 cm squared. What would be area of the front side? Divide the volume by the length to got the cross-sectional area, Assuming this i a regular hexagon, use the ‘mm ata formula to solve fr the width ofa side: A = (0.385),s*). Muliply tho side with thus calculated by the length ofthe prism, That gives you the area of one side. Neti opal + hitpsswww.wikinowcomiFindshe-Area-ofa-Shape 4851772018 1 Easy Ways to Find the Area of @ Shape (with Pictures) Thave an irregular-shaped poo! with a perimeter of 88, what's the formula to determine the area in square feet within the perimeter? ‘There is no such formula. You would have to draw a diagram of the pool, and break the whole area into coum smaller shapes whose areas you could calculate with geometrical formulas (squares, rectangles, tangles, atc), Neti elt How can I calculate the area of a figure with the following coordinates (-2, 6) (1, 3) (5. 3) (4-8) (2-8) (-5, 2)? Use the procedure in Metiod 7 above. NotHaptn 4 apa 2 | don't really get the last part of complex shapes, care to explain? you're asking about Method 7, Step 4, to the area were tying to calculate (a trapezoid inthis case) we add ‘mm an extra shape, an easy-fo-calevlate viangle. That forms another easy-to-caleulato shape, a square. From that ‘wo subiract the new area we added, That leaves the area we actually want, Netiaptl Hapa 0 How can I find the square inches of a triangle with a base of 15 inches and the height of 8 inches? A triangles area is equal to one-half its base multiplies by its height. A= (16)(8) = 2 0 sq in NotHaphl 0 Hapa 0 Quick Overview To find the area of a square or rectangle, just multiply the width of the shape by its height. To find the area of a circle, start by measuring the distance between the middle of the circle to the edge, which will give you the radius. Then, square the radius and multiply it by pi to find the area, If you need to find the area of a triangle, multiply the base of the triangle by its height. To find the area of a trapezoid, add the top and bottom of the shape together, divide that number in half, and then multiply by the height. Did this summary help you? Yes No Tips + Use this calculator you need help and want to see how the math is done. + Got holp from a friend if you're having a hard time! Warnings “+ Make sure that you keep your units of measurement straight. You don't want to mix up numbers! + Ite-a good idea to double check your answer! hitpsswww.wikinowcomiFindshe-Area-ofa-Shape os