GMAT - Quantitative Reasoning Sample Questions
Question #3
3a. Briefly explain how to determine the area of a trapezoid and identify the area of a trapezoid that has two parallel sides with one side that is 4 inches, one side that is 6 inches long, and the trapezoid has a height of 5 inches.
3b. The area of a trapezoid can be determined by using the formula A = (b1 + b2)/2 * h. This means that the area of a trapezoid is equal to the average of the two parallel sides of the trapezoid, identified as b1 and b2, multiplied by the height of the trapezoid. In order to determine the average length of the parallel sides, you simply need to add the length of the two parallel sides together and divide by 2. Therefore, the area of this trapezoid would be equal to (4 + 6) / 2 * 5, which for this example can be simplified to 5 * 5 or 25 square inches.