Final answer:
To calculate the area of a triangle with given vertices, use the formula A = 1/2 * base * height, where the base is the distance between two points on the triangle and the height is the perpendicular distance from the base to the third vertex.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the area of a triangle, you can use the formula A = 1/2 * base * height. In this case, the vertices of the triangle are (-5, 1), (2, 9), and (-5, 9).
First, find the base by calculating the distance between the points (-5, 1) and (-5, 9). The base is 8 units.
Next, find the height by calculating the distance between the point (-5, 1) and the line connecting the points (2, 9) and (-5, 9). The height is also 8 units.
Finally, plug the values into the formula: A = 1/2 * 8 * 8 = 32 square units.