Answer:
12 square units.
Step-by-step explanation:
When we plot the points representing the vertices of this triangle, we see that we do not have a segment perpendicular to any side; this means we do not have a height. What we do have is a horizontal line segment from (0, -2) to (8, -2), a segment running diagonally from (0, -2) to (9, 1) and a segment running diagonally from (9, 1) to (8, -2).
In order to find the height, we can drop a vertical line segment from the highest point, (9, 1), straight down adjacent to our horizontal line segment. This will be perpendicular. It runs from (9, 1) to (9, -2); its length would be 1--2 = 3 units. This is the height.
We will treat the horizontal segment as the base of the triangle; its length is 8-0 = 8.
Our formula for the area of a triangle is
A = 1/2bh
Using our information, we have
A = 1/2(8)(3) = 4(3) = 12
