Question

2. Find the area of the trapezoid. Leave your answer in the simplest radical form.

Answer 1

170 ft²

Explanation:

First let's calculate the height of this trapezoid. Call it 'h.' Look at the triangle on the right; the base is equal to (22 ft - 12 ft), or (10 ft). Using the tangent function, we can find h:

h

tan 45° = ---------- = 1 and so we know that h = 10 ft

10 ft

The formula for the area of a trapezoid is

A = (average length)*(width)

Here we have:

A = [ (12 ft + 22 ft) / 2 ] * 10 ft, or

A = (17 ft)*(10 ft) = 170 ft²