Area of a triangle with base 8 and height 5 is equal to

Area of a triangle with base 8 and height 5 is equal to

• A. 18
• B. 20
• C. 40
• D. 22.5

Answer: (B)

The area of a triangle is one-half of the product of its base and its height. With base 8 and height 5, multiply 8 by 5 to get 40, then take half of that to get 20. So the area is 20 square units. This is the correct result because you must include the half in the formula; using the full product would give 40, which isn’t the triangle’s area, and other results come from misapplying the half or mixing up the measurements.

The area of a triangle is one-half of the product of its base and its height. With base 8 and height 5, multiply 8 by 5 to get 40, then take half of that to get 20. So the area is 20 square units. This is the correct result because you must include the half in the formula; using the full product would give 40, which isn’t the triangle’s area, and other results come from misapplying the half or mixing up the measurements.