What is the area of a trapezoid with bases 6 and 8 and height 5?

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Multiple Choice

What is the area of a trapezoid with bases 6 and 8 and height 5?

The area of a trapezoid is found by multiplying the height by the average of the two bases. Here, the bases are 6 and 8, so their average is (6 + 8) / 2 = 7. Multiply by the height, 5, giving 7 × 5 = 35. This is the area. This approach comes from imagining the trapezoid as a stack of very thin rectangles whose width changes linearly from one base to the other; the average width across the height gives the correct total area. Using only one base with the height would give 30, which isn’t correct for a trapezoid, and other numbers would come from misapplying the method. The correct area is 35.

The area of a trapezoid is found by multiplying the height by the average of the two bases. Here, the bases are 6 and 8, so their average is (6 + 8) / 2 = 7. Multiply by the height, 5, giving 7 × 5 = 35. This is the area.

This approach comes from imagining the trapezoid as a stack of very thin rectangles whose width changes linearly from one base to the other; the average width across the height gives the correct total area. Using only one base with the height would give 30, which isn’t correct for a trapezoid, and other numbers would come from misapplying the method. The correct area is 35.

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