Which formula represents the area of a triangle?

• A. A=πr^2
• B. A=1/2 bh
• C. C=2πr
• D. y = mx + b

Answer: (B)

The area of a triangle is found by multiplying the base by the height and then taking half of that product. The base is any side you choose as the bottom, and the height is the perpendicular distance from that base to the opposite vertex. This works because a triangle with that base and height fits into a rectangle of the same base and height, and the diagonal cuts the rectangle into two equal triangles, so each triangle has half the area of the rectangle. So the area formula is base × height ÷ 2. The other expressions belong to other shapes or concepts: one is the area of a circle, another is its circumference, and the last is the equation of a straight line.