A diagram shows Parallelogram ABCD with angle A, 30 degrees; side AD, 6; side DC, 10; and a perpendicular dashed line from D to point E on side AB.

Question
Find the area of parallelogram A B C D, where D C equals 10 centimeters, A D equals 6 centimeters, and angle A equals 30°.

Answer options with 5 options
A.
60 centimeters squared

B.
42 centimeters squared

C.
32 centimeters squared

D.
,superscript, ,baseline,30 centimeters squared

E.
30 StartRoot 3 EndRoot centimeters squared

1 answer

To find the area of parallelogram ABCD, we can use the formula for the area of a parallelogram, which is given by:

\[ \text{Area} = \text{base} \times \text{height} \]

In this case, we can take side DC (which is 10 cm) as the base. To find the height, we need to determine the perpendicular distance from point D to line AB.

Given:

  • Side \(AD = 6 \text{ cm}\)
  • Side \(DC = 10 \text{ cm}\)
  • Angle \(A = 30^\circ\)

We can find the height \(h\) using the sine function from trigonometry as follows:

\[ h = AD \cdot \sin(\angle A) \]

Plugging in the values:

\[ h = 6 \cdot \sin(30^\circ) \]

Since \(\sin(30^\circ) = \frac{1}{2}\):

\[ h = 6 \cdot \frac{1}{2} = 3 \text{ cm} \]

Now, we can calculate the area of the parallelogram:

\[ \text{Area} = \text{base} \times \text{height} = DC \cdot h = 10 \cdot 3 = 30 \text{ cm}^2 \]

So, the area of parallelogram ABCD is 30 cm².

Thus, the correct answer is: E. 30 centimeters squared.