To find the area of a shape, the method depends on the type of shape:
- For a rectangle or square, multiply the length (or height) by the width. For a square, you can just square the length of one side:
Area=length×width(rectangle)\text{Area}=\text{length}\times \text{width}\quad \text{(rectangle)}Area=length×width(rectangle)
Area=side2(square)\text{Area}=\text{side}^2\quad \text{(square)}Area=side2(square)
- For a triangle, use the formula:
Area=12×base×height\text{Area}=\frac{1}{2}\times \text{base}\times \text{height}Area=21×base×height
- For a circle, use the formula with the radius rrr:
Area=πr2\text{Area}=\pi r^2Area=πr2
Alternatively, when a shape is drawn on a scaled grid, you can count the number of grid squares inside the shape and multiply by the area each square represents (e.g., 1 cm2^22). These formulas give the space occupied by the 2D shape in square units such as square meters (m²) or square centimeters (cm²).
