What is the correct formula for the area of a triangle with base b and height h?

What is the correct formula for the area of a triangle with base b and height h?

• A. b + h
• B. b × h
• C. (b × h) / 2
• D. (b − h) / 2

Answer: (C)

The main concept is that the area of a triangle depends on both its base and its height, and for a triangle you get half the area of a rectangle that has the same base and height. So the area is base times height divided by two: (b × h) / 2. This makes sense because a triangle can be thought of as half of that rectangle when you split the rectangle along a diagonal. For a quick check, if the base is 6 and the height is 4, the area is (6×4)/2 = 12 square units. The other forms don’t fit the idea of area: adding base and height isn’t area, and base times height alone is the area of a rectangle, not a triangle, while (b − h) / 2 isn’t related to how area scales with base and height.

The main concept is that the area of a triangle depends on both its base and its height, and for a triangle you get half the area of a rectangle that has the same base and height. So the area is base times height divided by two: (b × h) / 2. This makes sense because a triangle can be thought of as half of that rectangle when you split the rectangle along a diagonal. For a quick check, if the base is 6 and the height is 4, the area is (6×4)/2 = 12 square units. The other forms don’t fit the idea of area: adding base and height isn’t area, and base times height alone is the area of a rectangle, not a triangle, while (b − h) / 2 isn’t related to how area scales with base and height.