A triangle has side lengths of 8, 15 and 17 units. What is the area of the triangle, in square units?
I recognize that this is a right triangle, because 8^2 + 15^2 = 17^2. That means I can use the formula for the area of a right triangle, which is half the product of the lengths of the two shorter sides. So the area is (1/2) * 8 * 15 = 60 square units. 