A triangle has base 10 and height 6. What is its area?

A triangle has base 10 and height 6. What is its area?

• A. 15
• B. 60
• C. 45
• D. 30

Answer: (D)

The area of a triangle is half the product of its base and height. With base 10 and height 6, compute the product: 10 × 6 = 60. Half of that is 60 ÷ 2 = 30. So the area is 30. The other values don’t fit the standard formula: they correspond to the full product or other fractions of it, but the correct rule gives 30.

The area of a triangle is half the product of its base and height. With base 10 and height 6, compute the product: 10 × 6 = 60. Half of that is 60 ÷ 2 = 30. So the area is 30. The other values don’t fit the standard formula: they correspond to the full product or other fractions of it, but the correct rule gives 30.