Area of Polygons | FIO

Question 33

Here is one of the ways to convert trapezium ABCDABCD into a rectangle EFGHEFGH of equal area —

Given the trapezium ABCDABCD, how do we find the vertices of the rectangle EFGHEFGH?

[Hint: If ΔAHIΔDGI\Delta AHI \cong \Delta DGI and ΔBEJΔCFJ\Delta BEJ \cong \Delta CFJ, then the trapezium and rectangle have equal areas.]

Question diagram 1
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Solution
Understand the Question
  • A trapezium ABCDABCD with non-parallel sides ADAD and BCBC can be converted into a rectangle of equal area by cutting and rearranging congruent triangular pieces.
  • By finding the midpoints of the non-parallel sides and drawing lines perpendicular to the parallel bases, two pairs of congruent triangles are formed: ΔAHIΔDGI\Delta AHI \cong \Delta DGI and ΔBEJΔCFJ\Delta BEJ \cong \Delta CFJ.
  • Shifting ΔDGI\Delta DGI to ΔAHI\Delta AHI and ΔCFJ\Delta CFJ to ΔBEJ\Delta BEJ transforms the trapezium into rectangle EFGHEFGH without altering its total area.

Step 1 · Find the Midpoints of the Non-Parallel Sides

Identify the non-parallel sides ADAD and BCBC of trapezium ABCDABCD.Diagram 1

  • Let II be the midpoint of side ADAD.
  • Let JJ be the midpoint of side BCBC.

Step 2 · Construct Perpendiculars to Find the Vertices

Draw perpendicular lines passing through the midpoints to intersect the base and the extended top side:Diagram 2

  • To find GG and HH: Draw a line through II perpendicular to base DCDC.
    • Let it intersect base DCDC at point GG.
    • Extend this line upwards to meet the extension of side ABAB (line parallel to DCDC) at point HH.
  • To find FF and EE: Draw a line through JJ perpendicular to base DCDC.
    • Let it intersect base DCDC at point FF.
    • Extend this line upwards to meet the extension of side ABAB at point EE.

Step 3 · Verify Area Equivalence Using Congruence

The points E,F,G,HE, F, G, H form the required rectangle EFGHEFGH.

From the construction: ΔAHIΔDGIandΔBEJΔCFJ\Delta AHI \cong \Delta DGI \quad \text{and} \quad \Delta BEJ \cong \Delta CFJ

Cutting off ΔDGI\Delta DGI and ΔCFJ\Delta CFJ and rearranging them into the spaces of ΔAHI\Delta AHI and ΔBEJ\Delta BEJ yields: Area(Rectangle EFGH)=Area(Trapezium ABCD)\text{Area}(\text{Rectangle } EFGH) = \text{Area}(\text{Trapezium } ABCD)

Answer

The vertices of rectangle EFGHEFGH are found by:

  1. Finding midpoints II of ADAD and JJ of BCBC.
  2. Drawing a perpendicular to DCDC through II to get GG on DCDC and HH on line ABAB.
  3. Drawing a perpendicular to DCDC through JJ to get FF on DCDC and EE on line ABAB.
Common Mistakes
  • Not Using Midpoints: Choosing arbitrary points on sides ADAD and BCBC instead of exact midpoints will not produce congruent triangles (ΔAHI≇ΔDGI\Delta AHI \not\cong \Delta DGI), leading to unequal areas.
  • Non-Perpendicular Construction: Drawing lines through II and JJ that are not perpendicular to DCDC will result in a parallelogram rather than a rectangle.

More questions in FIO

Q1

Identify the missing sidelengths.

Q2

The figure shows a path (the shaded portion) laid around a rectangular park EFGH.

(i) What measurements do you need to find the area of the path? Once you identify the lengths to be measured, assign possible values of your choice to these measurements and find the area of the path. Give a formula for the area.

An example of a formula — Area of a rectangle=length×width\text{Area of a rectangle} = \text{length} \times \text{width}.

[Hint: There is a relation between the areas of EFGH, the path, and ABCD.**]

(ii) If the width of the path along each side is given, can you find its area? If not, what other measurements do you need? Assign values of your choice to these measurements and find the area of the path. Give a formula for the area using these measurements.

[Hint: Break the path into rectangles.**]

(iii) Does the area of the path change when the outer rectangle is moved while keeping the inner rectangular park EFGH inside it, as shown?

Q3

The figure shows a plot with sides 14 m14\text{ m} and 12 m12\text{ m}, and with a crosspath. What other measurements do you need to find the area of the crosspath? Once you identify the lengths to be measured, assign some possible values of your choice and find the area of the path. Give a formula for the area based on the measurements you choose.

Q4

Find the area of the spiral tube shown in the figure. The tube has the same width throughout.

[Hint: There are different ways of finding the area. Here is one method.]

What should be the length of the straight tube if it is to have the same area as the bent tube on the left?

Q5

In this figure, if the sidelength of the square is doubled, what is the increase in the areas of the regions 1, 2 and 3? Give reasons.

Q6

Divide a square into 4 parts by drawing two perpendicular lines inside the square as shown in the figure.

Rearrange the pieces to get a larger square, with a hole inside.

You can try this activity by constructing the square using cardboard, thick chart paper, or similar materials.

Q7

Find the areas of the following triangles:

Q8

Find the length of the altitude BY\text{BY}.

Q9

Find the area of ΔSUB\Delta\text{SUB}, given that it is isosceles, SE\text{SE} is perpendicular to UB\text{UB}, and the area of ΔSEB\Delta\text{SEB} is 24 sq. units24\text{ sq. units}.

Q10

[Śulba-Sūtras] Give a method to transform a rectangle into a triangle of equal area.

Q11

[Śulba-Sūtras] Give a method to transform a triangle into a rectangle of equal area.

Q12

ABCD, BCEF, and BFGH are identical squares.

(i) If the area of the red region is 49 sq. units, then what is the area of the blue region?

(ii) In another version of this figure, if the total area enclosed by the blue and red regions is 180 sq. units, then what is the area of each square?

Q13

If MM and NN are the midpoints of XYXY and XZXZ, what fraction of the area of ΔXYZ\Delta\text{XYZ} is the area of ΔXMN\Delta\text{XMN}? [Hint: Join NYNY]

Q14

Gopal needs to carry water from the river to his water tank. He starts from his house. What is the shortest path he can take from his house to the river and then to the water tank? Roughly recreate the map in your notebook and trace the shortest path.

Q15

Find the area of the quadrilateral ABCDABCD given that AC=22 cmAC = 22\text{ cm}, BM=3 cmBM = 3\text{ cm}, DN=3 cmDN = 3\text{ cm}, BMBM is perpendicular to ACAC, and DNDN is perpendicular to ACAC.

Q16

Find the area of the shaded region given that ABCD is a rectangle.

Q17

What measurements would you need to find the area of a regular hexagon?

Q18

What fraction of the total area of the rectangle is the area of the blue region?

Q19

Give a method to obtain a quadrilateral whose area is half that of a given quadrilateral.

Q20

Observe the parallelograms in the figure below.

(i) What can we say about the areas of all these parallelograms?

(ii) What can we say about their perimeters? Which figure appears to have the maximum perimeter, and which has the minimum perimeter?

Q21

Find the areas of the following parallelograms:

Q22

Find QN\text{QN}.

Q23

Consider a rectangle and a parallelogram of the same sidelengths: 5 cm5\text{ cm} and 4 cm4\text{ cm}. Which has the greater area? [Hint: Imagine constructing them on the same base.]

Q24

Give a method to obtain a rectangle whose area is twice that of a given triangle. What are the different methods that you can think of?

Q25

[Śulba-Sūtras] Give a method to obtain a rectangle of the same area as a given triangle.

Q26

[Śulba-Sūtras] An isosceles triangle can be converted into a rectangle by dissection in a simpler way. Can you find out how to do it?

[Hint: Show that triangles ΔADB\Delta \text{ADB} and ΔADC\Delta \text{ADC} can be made into halves of a rectangle. Figure out how they should be assembled to get a rectangle. Use cut-outs if necessary.]

Q27

[Śulba-Sūtras] Give a method to convert a rectangle into an isosceles triangle by dissection.

Q28

Which has greater area—an equilateral triangle or a square of the same sidelength as the triangle? Which has greater area—two identical equilateral triangles together or a square of the same sidelength as the triangle? Give reasons.

Q29

Find the area of a rhombus whose diagonals are 20 cm20\text{ cm} and 15 cm15\text{ cm}.

Q30

Give a method to convert a rectangle into a rhombus of equal area using dissection.

Q31

Find the areas of the following figures:

Q32

[Śulba-Sūtras] Give a method to convert an isosceles trapezium to a rectangle using dissection.

Q33

Here is one of the ways to convert trapezium ABCDABCD into a rectangle EFGHEFGH of equal area —

Given the trapezium ABCDABCD, how do we find the vertices of the rectangle EFGHEFGH?

[Hint: If ΔAHIΔDGI\Delta AHI \cong \Delta DGI and ΔBEJΔCFJ\Delta BEJ \cong \Delta CFJ, then the trapezium and rectangle have equal areas.]

Q34

Using the idea of converting a trapezium into a rectangle of equal area, and vice versa, construct a trapezium of area 144 cm2144\text{ cm}^2.

Q35

A regular hexagon is divided into a trapezium, an equilateral triangle, and a rhombus, as shown. Find the ratio of their areas.

Q36

ZYXW is a trapezium with ZYWXZY \parallel WX. AA is the midpoint of XYXY. Show that the area of the trapezium ZYXW is equal to the area of ZWB\triangle ZWB.

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