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The best known and simplest formula is = /, where b is the length of the base of the triangle, and h is the height or altitude of the triangle. The term "base" denotes any side, and "height" denotes the length of a perpendicular from the vertex opposite the base onto the line containing the base. Euclid proved that the area of a triangle is ...
In a triangle, any arbitrary side can be considered the base. The two endpoints of the base are called base vertices and the corresponding angles are called base angles. The third vertex opposite the base is called the apex. The extended base of a triangle (a particular case of an extended side) is the line that contains the base.
The area formula for a triangle can be proven by cutting two copies of the triangle into pieces and rearranging them into a rectangle. In the Euclidean plane, area is defined by comparison with a square of side length , which has area 1. There are several ways to calculate the area of an arbitrary triangle.
The triangle ABC is a right triangle, as shown in the upper part of the diagram, with BC the hypotenuse. At the same time the triangle lengths are measured as shown, with the hypotenuse of length y, the side AC of length x and the side AB of length a, as seen in the lower diagram part. Diagram for differential proof
The length of the hypotenuse is thus the square root of 169, denoted , which equals 13. The Pythagorean theorem, and hence this length, can also be derived from the law of cosines in trigonometry. In a right triangle, the cosine of an angle is the ratio of the leg
Altitudes can be used in the computation of the area of a triangle: one-half of the product of an altitude's length and its base's length (symbol b) equals the triangle's area: A = h b /2. Thus, the longest altitude is perpendicular to the shortest side of the triangle.
A triangle with sides a, b, and c. In geometry, Heron's formula (or Hero's formula) gives the area of a triangle in terms of the three side lengths , , . Letting be the semiperimeter of the triangle, = (+ +), the area is [1]
As with any triangle, the area is equal to one half the base multiplied by the corresponding height. In a right triangle, if one leg is taken as the base then the other is height, so the area of a right triangle is one half the product of the two legs. As a formula the area is =