1. find the area of the rectangle 2. find the area of the triangle 3. add the areas for the total area
1. area of a rectangle = lw = 8x4 = 32cm 2. area of triangle = 1/2bh the height is the line drawn from the vertex A to the center of side BE the base is 1/2 the length of side BE therefore base = 4 because the hypotenuse is 5 and the height is 4 the laws of the pythagorean theorem state that the base equals 3 (3-4-5 right triangle) Therefore the area = 1/2(3)(4)= 1/2(12) =6cm 3. The total area equals 32cm + 6cm =38cm