Question

Janet has a purse shaped like a trapezoid. One base is 10.2 inches and the other base is 5.3 inches. The area is 46.5 in.². What is the height of the purse?

Answer 1

Area of the trapezoid can be calculated as:

Area = 0.5 x Height x Sum of Length of Bases

We have the measure of area and length of bases. Using the above formula we can find the height h of the trapezoid.

So, using the values we get:


`46.5 = 0.5(h)(10.2+5.3) \\ \\ (46.5)/(0.5)=h(15.5) \\ \\ h= (93)/(15.5) \\ \\ h=6`

Thus, the height of the trapezoid will be 6 in.