Area of a parallelogram From Latin: area - "level ground, an
open space," The number of square units it takes to completely
fill a parallelogram. Formula: Base × Altitude Try this Drag the
orange dots to move and reshape the parallelogram. Drag point D
to change the base. The area of a parallelogram is given by the
formula b is the length of any base a is the corresponding
altitude See Derivation of the formula. Recall that any of the
four sides can be chosen as the base. You must use the altitude
that goes with the base you choose. The altitude (or height) of
a parallelogram is the perpendicular distance from the base to
the opposite side (which may have to be extended). In the figure
above, the altitude corresponding to the base CD is shown.
Things to try When you done, click "show details" to see how
close you got. - In the figure above, click on "hide details" -
Drag the orange dots on the vertices to make a random-size
parallelogram. - Estimate the area of the parallelogram just
counting the squares insi