Calculating the area of a quadrilateral - GMAT Quantitative Reasoning

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Question

Quad

Note: Figure NOT drawn to scale

What is the area of Quadrilateral , above?

Answer

Quadrilateral is a composite of two right triangles, and , so we find the area of each and add the areas. First, we need to find and , since the area of a right triangle is half the product of the lengths of its legs.

By the Pythagorean Theorem:

Also by the Pythagorean Theorem:

The area of is .

The area of is .

Add the areas to get , the area of Quadrilateral .

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Question

What is the area of a trapezoid with a height of 7, a base of 5, and another base of 13?

Answer

area = \frac{(b_{1}+ b_{2}\cdot h)}{2} = \frac{(5 + 13)\cdot 7}{2} = \frac{18\cdot 7}{2} = \frac{126}{2} = 63

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Question

A circle can be circumscribed about each of the following figures except:

Answer

A circle can be circumscribed about any triangle regardless of its sidelengths or angle measures, so we can eliminate the two triangle choices.

A circle can be circumscribed about any regular polygon, so we can eliminate those two choices as well.

The correct choice is that each figure can have a circle circumscribed about it.

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Question

What is the area of a quadrilateral on the coordinate plane with vertices ?

Answer

As can be seen from this diagram, this is a parallelogram with base 8 and height 4:

Parallelogram

The area of this parallelogram is the product of its base and its height:

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Question

What is the area of a quadrilateral on the coordinate plane with vertices ?

Answer

As can be seen in this diagram, this is a trapezoid with bases 10 and 5 and height 8.

Trapezoid

Setting in the following formula, we can calculate the area of the trapezoid:

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Question

What is the area of the quadrilateral on the coordinate plane with vertices ?

Answer

The quadrilateral formed is a trapezoid with two horizontal bases. One base connects (0,0) and (9,0) and therefore has length ; the other connects (4,7) and (7,7) and has length . The height is the vertical distance between the two bases, which is the difference of the coorindates: . Therefore, the area of the trapezoid is

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Question

What is the area of the quadrilateral on the coordinate plane with vertices .

Answer

The quadrilateral is a trapezoid with horizontal bases; one connects and and has length , and the other connects and and has length . The height is the vertical distance between the bases, which is the difference of the -coordinates; this is . Substitute in the formula for the area of a trapezoid:

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Question

What is the area of the quadrilateral on the coordinate plane with vertices ?

Answer

The quadrilateral is a parallelogram with two vertical bases, each with length . Its height is the distance between the bases, which is the difference of the -coordinates: . The area of the parallelogram is the product of its base and its height:

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Question

Parallelogram2

Give the area of the above parallelogram if .

Answer

Multiply height by base to get the area.

By the 30-60-90 Theorem:

.

The area is therefore

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Question

Parallelogram1

Give the area of the above parallelogram if .

Answer

Multiply height by base to get the area.

By the 45-45-90 Theorem,

.

Since the product of the height and the base of a parallelogram is its area,

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Question

Parallelogram2

Give the area of the above parallelogram if .

Answer

Multiply height by base to get the area.

By the 30-60-90 Theorem:

.

The area is therefore

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Question

Rhombus_1

The above figure shows a rhombus . Give its area.

Answer

Construct the other diagonal of the rhombus, which, along with the first one, form a pair of mutual perpendicular bisectors.

Rhombus_1

By the Pythagorean Theorem,

The rhombus can be seen as the composite of four congruent right triangles, each with legs 10 and , so the area of the rhombus is

.

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Question

Triangle

Note: Figure NOT drawn to scale.

Refer to the above diagram. Give the area of Quadrilateral .

Answer

Apply the Pythagorean Theorem twice here.

The quadrilateral is a composite of two right triangles, each of whose area is half the product of its legs:

Area of :

Area of :

Add:

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Question

Rhombus has perimeter 48; . What is the area of Rhombus ?

Answer

Each side of a rhombus is congruent, so if it has perimeter 48, it has sidelength 12. Also, the diagonals of a rhombus are each other's perpendicular bisectors, so if they are both constructed, and their point of intersection is called , then . The following figure is formed by the rhombus and its diagonals.

Untitled

is a right triangle with its short leg half the length of its hypotenuse, so it is a 30-60-90 triangle, and its long leg measures by the 30-60-90 Theorem. Therefore, . The area of a rhombus is half the product of the lengths of its diagonals:

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Question

Rhombus

Note: figure NOT drawn to scale.

The above figure depicts a rhombus, .

Give the area of Rhombus .

Answer

The area of a rhombus is half the product of the lengths of its diagonals, so

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Question

Trapezoid 2

Note: figure NOT drawn to scale.

Give the area of the above trapezoid.

Answer

The area of a trapezoid with height and bases of length and is

.

Setting :

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Question

Trapezoid 1

Note: figure NOT drawn to scale.

Give the area of the above trapezoid.

Answer

The area of a trapezoid with height and bases of length and is

.

Setting :

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