Question

What is the area of a triangle whose vertices are R(−4, 2) , S(1, 2) , and T(−5, −4)

Answer 1

It always helps to make a sketch before you start a problem.
In this case, notice that RS is a horizontal line, so it is easy to that RS = 5
let's make RS the base, then since T is 6 units below that line, the area
= (1/2)(base)(height
= ....