Question

Michael is finding the area of parallelogram ABCD. To do this, he follows the steps in the table.

Step 1

Draw a rectangle around parallelogram ABCD.
Step 2
Find the area of the rectangle.

Step 3 Find the area of the four right triangles created in the corners of the rectangle.
Step 4
Subtract the area of the right triangles from the area of the rectangle.

To solve the problem using these steps, what are the dimensions of the rectangle he should draw?

On a coordinate plane, parallelogram A B C D has points (1, negative 1), (3, 2), (1, 3), and (negative 1, 0).

2 units by 4 units
3 units by 2 units
4 units by 4 units
5 units by 6 units

Answer 1

4 units by 4 units

The rectangle must span the x-values from -1 to 3 (width 4) and the y-values from -1 to 3 (height 4), so its dimensions are 4 by 4.