Areas of Triangles - T2 - 4(a)

			When you chop a rectangle in half, you get two right-angled triangles.


The area of a rectangle = length × width If a right-angled triangle is half a rectangle, then it can be said: The area of a right-angled triangle: = ½ the area of a rectangle =½ (length × width)


			Of course, not all triangles are right-angled, but we might still want to know its area. The important thing is the right angle. If we turn a triangle so it is flat on a side, we can call the bottom side the base. The length from the top of the triangle to the base, so it makes a right angle with the base, is the height. The base is like the length, and the height is like the width, so we can say: The area of any triangle: = ½ (base × height) See the animation!!