1. find the area of the rectangle
2. find the area of the triangle
3. add the areas for the total area
1. area of a rectangle = lw = 8x4 = 32cm
2. area of triangle = 1/2bh
the height is the line drawn from the vertex A to the center of side BE
the base is 1/2 the length of side BE therefore base = 4
because the hypotenuse is 5 and the height is 4 the laws of the pythagorean theorem state that the base equals 3 (3-4-5 right triangle)
Therefore the area = 1/2(3)(4)= 1/2(12) =6cm
3. The total area equals 32cm + 6cm =38cm