Joan found the area of the trapezoid below by creating triangles as shown. What is the total area of the trapezoid? The trapezoid is 6 units 8 units and 12 units split into two triangles

Question

A. 24 square units
B. 48 square units
C. 72 square units
D. 96 square units

Answer 1

The total area of the trapezoid can be found by adding the areas of the two triangles together.

For the first triangle:
Base = 8 units
Height = 6 units

Area = (1/2) * base * height
Area = (1/2) * 8 * 6
Area = 24 square units

For the second triangle:
Base = 8 units
Height = 12 units

Area = (1/2) * base * height
Area = (1/2) * 8 * 12
Area = 48 square units

Total area = Area of first triangle + Area of second triangle
Total area = 24 + 48
Total area = 72 square units

Therefore, the total area of the trapezoid is 72 square units which is option C.