Chapter 7

Area-1

7.1 Notes
When we define area, we do need a few basic starting points. Let us define the area of
an a by b rectangle as ab (and therefore, the area of a square with side length s is s2 ).
Theorem 7.1.1. Given any triangle with a side of length b and height h (defined as the
shortest distance from the last vertex to the side), the area of that triangle is 21 bh.

Proof. For right triangles, the triangle is half of a rectangle with sides b and h. For acute
triangles, we can cut the triangle into two right triangles. If the triangle is obtuse, we
can draw the diagram as shown: then the area is the big rectangle minus the two smaller
rectangles, or (a + b)h − (a+b)h
2 − ah bh
2 = 2 .

There are other formulas that are good to know as well.

Theorem 7.1.2. The area of a triangle is
1 1 abc p
aha = ab sin C = = rs = s(s − a)(s − b)(s − c)
2 2 4R
where a, b, and c are the side lengths, ha is the height of the triangle to side a, R is the
radius of the circumcircle, r is the radius of the incircle, and s = a+b+c
2 is the semiperimeter.

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MC35G Chapter 7. Area-1

Proof. There are a lot of steps here! The first equality is true because b sin C = h (by the
definition of sine). After that, by the extended law of sines, sinc C = 2R, so we can plug in
sin C to get the next equality.
The last two are more complicated. Let I be the center of the incircle. Then the area of
the triangle is [BCI] + [ACI] + [ABI] = ar br cr
2 + 2 + 2 = rs. Finally, Heron’s formula can be
2 2
a +b −c 2 √
found using the law of cosines: cos C = 2ab , so we can solve for sin C = 1 − cos2 C
1
and plug that in to 2 ab sin C.

The hardest part about finding an area is to know which formula or formulas will work
or give the cleanest solution.
Example 7.1.3 (2009 AMC 12A # 20). Convex quadrilateral ABCD has AB = 9 and
CD = 12. Diagonals AC and BD intersect at E, AC = 14, and 4AED and 4BEC have
equal areas. What is AE?
Solution. We don’t actually have very much information about this quadrilateral aside
from the equal areas condition. If AED and BEC have equal areas, we could try to relate
the middle angle, but that’s hard because we’d have to multiply lengths.
Instead, the hard part of the problem is to try a weird idea. Notice that we can add
the area of AEB to both: then the area of ABD and ACD are the same, so D and C are
the same length from AB. But this means we have a trapezoid! In a trapezoid, we have
alternate interior angles ∠EAB = ∠ECD, ∠EBA = ∠EDC, so we have similar triangles
ABE and CDE with scale factor 3 : 4. Thus AE : CE = 3 : 4 add up to 14, so letting
AE = 3x and BE = 4x, 3x + 4x = 14, x = 2, and AE = 6 .

Example 7.1.4 (2006 AMC 10B # 23). A triangle is partitioned into three triangles and
a quadrilateral by drawing two lines from vertices to their opposite sides. The areas of the
three triangles are 3, 7, and 7 as shown. What is the area of the shaded quadrilateral?

Solution. It is hard to find areas of quadrilaterals, but easier to find areas of triangles.
Draw the diagonal of the quadrilateral from the top vertex, and let the left area be x and
the right area be y.
All we can really work with here is ratios. Notice that the ratio of x3 is just the ratio of
the bases on the left side, which is also x+y+7
3+7 . In both of these cases, we have the same
ratio of bases, and the same height. Rearranging this, 10x = 3(x + y + 7), so 7x = 3y + 21.

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MC35G Chapter 7. Area-1

Similarly, looking at y7 , this is the ratio of bases on the right side, so it is equal to
x+y+3
7+7 . Thus 14y = 7x + 7y + 21, so y = x + 3. Plugging this in, 7x = 3(x + 3) + 21, so
x = 7.5 and y = 10.5, so the area of the quadrilateral is 7.5 + 10.5 = 18 .

With this kind of thinking, we can also find areas of certain quadrilaterals. Keep in
mind, though, that if you have only the side lengths of a quadrilateral, you do not know
the exact shape or area yet.
Theorem 7.1.5. Here are a few common quadrilateral area formulas:
ˆ The area of any parallelogram with one side of length b and height h is bh.
ˆ The area of a rhombus, kite, or other quadrilateral with perpendicular diagonals of
length d1 and d2 is 21 d1 d2 .

ˆ The area of a trapezoid with bases a and b and height h is a+b

2 · h.
Proof. For the parallelogram, draw an altitude from one of the inner vertices, and move
the triangle off of the parallelogram to create a rectangle with base b and height h.
Similarly, for any quadrilateral with perpendicular diagonals, we can draw a rectangle
around it with side lengths equal to the diagonals. Then, the quadrilateral takes up exactly
half the area of the rectangle, so the area is half the product of the diagonals.
Finally, a trapezoid can be split into a rectangle and two triangles by drawing the
altitudes from the shorter side. The rest is algebra.

Example 7.1.6 (2008 AMC 12B # 25). Let ABCD be a trapezoid with AB||CD, AB =
11, BC = 5, CD = 19, and DA = 7. Bisectors of ∠A and ∠D meet at P , and bisectors of
∠B and ∠C meet at Q. What is the area of hexagon ABQCDP ?
Solution. First of all, what’s the height h of the trapezoid? Let the altitudes √
from A and
B
√ to CD hit at X and Y . Then √ by the Pythagorean
√ theorem, DX + CY = 49 − h2 +
25 − h = 19 − 11 = 8, so 49 − h = 8 − 25 − h2 . √Squaring both sides, 49 − h2 =
2 2
√ √
25 − h2 + 64 − 16 25 − h2 , so 25 − h2 = 2.5 and h = 5 2 3 .
We know that ∠A + ∠D = 180◦ , so the angle bisectors give us that ∠P AD + ∠P DA =
90◦ and therefore ∠AP D = 90◦ . Similarly, ∠BP C = 90◦ . But let’s try to use the angle
bisectors a bit more. Let AP intersect CD at R and let BQ intersect CD at S; by ASA
congruence, triangles DP R and DP A are congruent, and same with CQS and CQB. How
do we relate those to the rest of the area? Well, our goal is to find the whole area minus
triangles AP D and BQC. If we multiply this by 2 (to get the congruent triangles in there),
we want twice the whole area minus triangles ADR and BSC. This is the sum of the areas
of ABCD and ABRS, so we really want√their average! √
5 3 75 3
Well, the area of ABCD is 11+19 2 · 2 = 2 , and since RS = CD − DR − SC =
√ √
11+7 5 3 45 3
CD − AD − BC (congruent triangles) = 7, the area of ABRS is 2 · 2 = 2 , and
√
the average of these is 30 3 .

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MC35G Chapter 7. Area-1

7.2 Examples
1. (HMMT Feb-2002-Geometry-3) A square and√a regular hexagon are drawn with the
same side length. If the area of the square is 3, what is the area of the hexagon?

2. (AMC10-2008-A21) A cube with side length 1 is sliced by a plane that passes through
two diagonally opposite vertices A and C and the midpoints B and D of two oppo-
site edges not containing A or C, as shown. What is the area of quadrilateral ABCD?

√
6 5
√ 3
√
(A) 2 (B) 4 (C) 2 (D) 2 (E) 3

3. (AMC12-2008-B15) On each side of a unit square, an equilateral triangle of side

length 1 is constructed. On each new side of each equilateral triangle, another equi-
lateral triangle of side length 1 is constructed. The interiors of the square and the 12
triangles have no points in common. Let R be the region formed by the union of the
square and all the triangles, and let S be the smallest convex polygon that contains
R. What is the area of the region that is inside S but outside R?

1
√
2
√ √
(A) 4 (B) 4 (C) 1 (D) 3 (E) 2 3
√
4. (AMC10-2014-A23) A rectangular piece of paper whose length is 3 times the width
has area A. The paper is divided into three equal sections along opposite lengths,
and then a dotted line is drawn from the first divider to the second divider on the
opposite side as shown. The paper is then folded flat along this dotted line to create
a new shape with area B. What is the ratio B : A?

(A) 1:2 (B) 3:5 (C) 2:3 (D) 3:4 (E) 4:5

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MC35G Chapter 7. Area-1

7.3 Exercises
1. (AMC10-2010-A19) Equiangular hexagon ABCDEF has side lengths AB = CD =
EF = 1 and BC = DE = F A = r. The area of 4ACE is 70% of the area of the
hexagon. What is the sum of all possible values of r?
√
4 3 10 17
(A) 3 (B) 3 (C) 4 (D) 4 (E) 6

2. (AMC10-2016-B23) In regular hexagon ABCDEF, points W, X, Y, and Z are cho-

sen on sides BC, CD, EF , and F A, respectively, so lines AB, ZW, Y X, and ED are
parallel and equally spaced. What is the ratio of the area of hexagon W CXY F Z to
the area of hexagon ABCDEF ?

1 10 11 4 13
(A) 3 (B) 27 (C) 27 (D) 9 (E) 27

3. (SMT-2012-Geometry-2) In trapezoid ABCD, BC is parallel to AD, AB = 13,

BC = 15, CD = 14, and DA = 30. Find the area of ABCD.

4. (AMC10-2018-B24) Let ABCDEF be a regular hexagon with side length 1. Denote

X, Y, and Z the midpoints of sides AB, CD, and EF , respectively. What is the area
of the convex hexagon whose interior is the intersection of the interiors of 4ACE
and 4XY Z?

3
√ 7
√ 15
√ 1
√ 9
√
(A) 8 3 (B) 16 3 (C) 32 3 (D) 2 3 (E) 16 3

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