Which formula gives the area of a triangle?

• A. bh
• B. b h^2
• C. π r²
• D. 1/2 bh

Answer: (D)

The main idea here is how to find the area of a triangle using its base and height. Think of a rectangle that has the same base and height as the triangle. The rectangle’s area is base times height (bh). A triangle is exactly half of that rectangle, so its area is (1/2) × b × h. That’s why this formula works: it captures the notion that the triangle occupies half of the space enclosed by its base and height.

bh would give the area of the full rectangle, πr² is the area of a circle, and bh² doesn’t align with how area scales for a triangle. So the half-base-times-height formula is the correct one.