In the triangle area formula A = 1/2 b h, what does b stand for?

In the triangle area formula A = 1/2 b h, what does b stand for?

• A. Height
• B. Base length
• C. Radius
• D. Hypotenuse

Answer: (B)

In the triangle area formula, you multiply the base length by the height and take half. The letter b represents the base length—the length of the side you choose as the base. The height, shown by h, is the perpendicular distance from that base to the opposite vertex. The base can be any side, but the height must be perpendicular to that base. The other options don’t fit because height corresponds to h, radius is a circle concept, and the hypotenuse is a side in a right triangle, not what the base length refers to in this formula.

In the triangle area formula, you multiply the base length by the height and take half. The letter b represents the base length—the length of the side you choose as the base. The height, shown by h, is the perpendicular distance from that base to the opposite vertex. The base can be any side, but the height must be perpendicular to that base. The other options don’t fit because height corresponds to h, radius is a circle concept, and the hypotenuse is a side in a right triangle, not what the base length refers to in this formula.