Area of a parallelogram, step by step
A parallelogram uses exactly the arithmetic its rectangle would: base times height.
The question
cm²
Area of a 6 by 17 parallelogram
- A parallelogram. Two of its numbers matter and they are not the two longest lines — find them before working anything out.
- The base is the side it stands on: 6 cm.
- The height is the DASHED line — straight up from the base, at a right angle to it: 17 cm. It is not the sloping side, even though the sloping side is longer and is written right next to it.
- Slide the triangle off one end round to the other and it is a rectangle — same base, same height. So there is no halving here: 6 × 17 = 102 square cm.
How it works.
- 01
A parallelogram. Two of its numbers matter and they are not the two longest lines — find them before working anything out.
- 02
The base is the side it stands on: 6 cm.
- 03
The height is the DASHED line — straight up from the base, at a right angle to it: 17 cm. It is not the sloping side, even though the sloping side is longer and is written right next to it.
- 04
Slide the triangle off one end round to the other and it is a rectangle — same base, same height. So there is no halving here: 6 × 17 = 102 square cm.