Question

Bob is trying to calculate the area of a triangle with a base of 5 meters and a height of 7 meters. He mistakenly switches the height and the base. How will this affect his answer? Explain your thinking.

Answer 1

see below

Explanation:

A = 1/2 b*h

A = 1/2 (5*7)

We can use the commutative property of multiplication which states

a*b = b*a

A = 1/2 (7*5)

This will not affect the answer because 5*7 = 7*5