Answer: 81 square inches
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Step-by-step explanation:
The linear scale factor is 1.5 meaning that the corresponding sides of the bottom trapezoid are 1.5 times larger than their counter-parts in the top trapezoid.
The larger trapezoid's area is 2.25 times larger compared to the smaller trapezoid. Where does the 2.25 come from? From the fact that squaring 1.5 leads to (1.5)^2 = (1.5)*(1.5) = 2.25
Think of a square that is 1 by 1, then it doubles to 2 by 2. The area is 4 times greater, so 2^2 = 4. This is one example of many.
Since the larger trapezoid has an area 2.25 times larger than the smaller, this means...
larger trapezoid area = 2.25*(smaller trapezoid area)
larger trapezoid area = 2.25*36
larger trapezoid area = 81 square inches