Area
Area is a measurement of the space inside the perimeter of a shape.
As well as being able to calculate the perimeter of two-dimensional
shapes, it is also possible to calculate their areas too. Different
shapes use different formulae but the same formula is used to
calculate the area of squares and rectangles.
Area of a rectangle
A netball court measures 100 ft by 50 ft, in metres this is the same
as 30.5 m by 15.25 m. To find the area you multiply the length by
the width measurements:
100 x 50 = 5 000 square feet
50 ft
50 ft
100 ft
100 ft
Areas of any shape are measured in squared units, so if your sides
lengths are in feet the area will be in square feet (sq ft). Likewise,
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if your side lengths are in metres the area will be in square metres
(m2).
The same approach would be used to calculate the area of a square.
The formula for area of a rectangle or a square is:
Area = length x width
which is often abbreviated to
A=lxw
Area of a Composite Shapes
A composite shape combines several different shapes, e.g. such as a
L-shaped room which is made up of squares/rectangles.
4 cm
5cm
7 cm
8 cm
3 cm
11cm
cmc
To find the area of a composite shape.
m
Divide the shape it into
squares/rectangles
4cm
4 cm
5cm
5cm
7 cm
8 cm
3 cm
3cm
11cm
cmc
11cm
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m
Find the area of each part:
Area of the purple rectangle is 5 x 4 = 20 cm2
Area of the orange rectangle is 11 x 3 = 33 cm2
Total area of composite shape:
Add the area of each part
20 cm2 + 33 cm2 = 53 cm2
Practical applications of area
Area is required when working how much turf is needed for a lawn
or to carpet a room. To complete these practical activities you need
to be able to use a tape measure, to measure the length and width of
the space.
The carpet in a teaching room at Fircroft College needs to be
replaced and costed.
The room measures 6 m by 5 m
Carpet is sold for £40 per m2.
Carpet is sold in 2.5m, 4m and 5m widths
6m
5m
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The area of this room is:
6 x 5 = 30 m2
Costing
Opting to buy the as a 5 m width would be the most economical
as it would reduce the amount of waste and cost.
30 x £40 = £1 200 to carpet the entire room
Fircroft College of Adult Education