Lets begin by finding the length of the <em>x</em> axis. We find this by subtracting the smallest number from the larger number. In our case, this is 2 - (-5) or 7.
Then we can find the length of the <em>y </em> axis.<em> </em>Similar to the <em>x </em>axis, we subtract. 5 - (-3) is 8.
We calculate area by multiplying length by width, or x axis by y axis. 7 x 8 = 56. Therefore, our final answer is 56 sq units.