Area of shapes

By definition, the area of shapes is the amount of space inside those shapes.

To get the amount of space inside a figure, we use a square to represent 1 unit and we say that the area is measured in square units

Take a look at the following rectangle. To get the area, we are going to draw squares of equal sizes inside of it.



1 square represents 1 square unit. The rectangle has 8 squares, so the area for this rectangle is 8 square units.

We can also write 8 units² and it will mean the same

Notice,it is very important, that you can get the same answer if you multiply 2 square units by 4 square units because 2 × 4 = 8

2 square units represent the measure of the width and 4 square units represent the measure for the length.

Thus, in general, to get the area for a rectangle, just use the following formula:
Area of rectangle = length × width



In practice, when looking for the area of shapes, you will be using real life units such, inches, yards, feet, and so forth

The following examples demonstrate how to do this



Notice here the unit we are using is inch. That means we are going to use squares, which have a side of 1 inch to get the area for the rectangle.

Area = length × width = 5 × 2 = 10 square inches or 10 inches²

This also means that we can fit 10 squares with a side of 1 inch inside this rectangle.

Find the area of the following rectangle



Area = length × width = 10 × 2 = 20 square inches or 20 inches²

Now,that you understand how to get the area for a rectangle, it is going to be easy to get the area of shapes such as squares, triangles, and trapezoid.