Question 6
is a parallelogram. and are any two points on side . What can you say about the ratio ?
- Two triangles that share the same base and lie between the same parallel lines have equal altitudes (heights) and therefore equal areas.
- In parallelogram , side . Since both points and lie on line , triangles and share the base and have the same perpendicular height from line to line .
- Therefore, their areas are equal, making the ratio of their areas .
Step 1 · Identify Common Base and Height
Both triangles and lie on the common base .
Since is a parallelogram, .
Points and both lie on line . The perpendicular distance between two parallel lines is constant everywhere, so the height from to base is equal to the height from to base .
Step 2 · Compare Areas and Calculate the Ratio
Using the area formula for a triangle
Since base and height are identical
Therefore, the ratio of their areas is
- Assuming Position Affects Area: Mistakenly believing that because and are at different locations along , the triangles have different areas. The perpendicular distance from any point on to line is constant.
- Confusing Slant Length with Height: Confusing side lengths like or with the perpendicular altitude of the triangles.
More questions in Exercise 6.2
Find the area of triangle ADE in Fig. 6.31.
The parallel sides of a trapezium are and . If its non-parallel sides are both equal, each being , find the area of the trapezium.
Find the area of a triangle, given that its sides are and long, and its perimeter is .
The sides of a triangular plot are in the ratio ; its perimeter is . Find its area.
One diagonal of a rhombus is twice as long as the other diagonal. If the rhombus has area , find the length of the shorter diagonal.
is a parallelogram. and are any two points on side . What can you say about the ratio ?
is any point on the diagonal of a parallelogram . Prove that the areas of triangles and are equal.
If the mid-points of the sides of a 4-gon (also known as a quadrilateral, but we prefer to call it a ‘4-gon’) are joined in order, prove that the area of the parallelogram thus formed will be half of the area of the given 4-gon. (You may wonder whether the 4-gon thus formed is always a parallelogram, and if so, why? These questions will be tackled and answered in the chapter on quadrilaterals.)
In , the midpoint of is (Fig. 6.32). Median is drawn. is any point on . Show that .
Given a square , let be a point within it. Join , , , (Fig. 6.33). What is the ratio of the areas of the red region ( and ) and the green region ( and )?
In , is the midpoint of . is any point on , and is a point on such that . is joined (Fig. 6.34). Prove that