How To Find The Area Of A Parallelogram
A parallelogram is a four-sided figure with the opposite sides parallel to one another. A parallelogram containing a right angle is a rectangle; if its four sides are equal in length, the rectangle is a square. Finding the area of a rectangle or square is straightforward. For parallelograms with no right angle, such as a diamond-shaped quadrilateral, calculating area is a bit more involved.
Square or Rectangle
Step 1
Measure the length of one side of the figure.
Step 2
Measure the length of an adjacent side.
Step 3
Multiply the two measurements to obtain the area.
Parallelogram With No Right Angle
Step 1
Measure the length of one side of the parallelogram.
Step 2
Measure the height of the parallelogram, which is the shortest distance from the side you measured to the opposite side. The height forms a right angle with the measured side.
Step 3
Multiply the two measurements to obtain the area.
TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)
The general formula for the area (A) of a parallelogram is base (b) times height (h), or A=b x h. For a square or rectangle, the base and the height are adjacent sides. For other parallelograms, an arbitrary side is the base and the height is the shortest distance between the base and its opposite side.
Warning
Express your units for area as the square of your linear measurement. For example, if a parallelogram has a base of 4 inches and a height of 3 inches, the area is 3 x 4 = 12 square inches.
Cite This Article
MLA
Sarokin, David. "How To Find The Area Of A Parallelogram" sciencing.com, https://www.sciencing.com/area-parallelogram-2306232/. 24 April 2017.
APA
Sarokin, David. (2017, April 24). How To Find The Area Of A Parallelogram. sciencing.com. Retrieved from https://www.sciencing.com/area-parallelogram-2306232/
Chicago
Sarokin, David. How To Find The Area Of A Parallelogram last modified March 24, 2022. https://www.sciencing.com/area-parallelogram-2306232/