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The area of a triangle can be demonstrated, for example by means of the congruence of triangles, as half of the area of a parallelogram that has the same base length and height. A graphic derivation of the formula T = h 2 b {\displaystyle T={\frac {h}{2}}b} that avoids the usual procedure of doubling the area of the triangle and then halving it.
In this example, the triangle's side lengths and area are integers, making it a Heronian triangle. However, Heron's formula works equally well when the side lengths are real numbers. As long as they obey the strict triangle inequality, they define a triangle in the Euclidean plane whose area is a positive real number.
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 area A of any triangle is the product of its inradius (the radius of its inscribed circle) and its semiperimeter: =. The area of a triangle can also be calculated from its semiperimeter and side lengths a, b, c using Heron's formula:
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.
This formula generalizes Heron's formula for the area of a triangle. A triangle may be regarded as a quadrilateral with one side of length zero. From this perspective, as d approaches zero, a cyclic quadrilateral converges into a cyclic triangle (all triangles are cyclic), and Brahmagupta's formula simplifies to Heron's formula.
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.
The triangle of the largest area of all those inscribed in a given circle is equilateral, and the triangle of the smallest area of all those circumscribed around a given circle is also equilateral. [15] It is the only regular polygon aside from the square that can be inscribed inside any other regular polygon.