Answer: 54 cm²
Step-by-step explanation: In this problem, we're asked to find the area of the trapezoid shown. A trapezoid is a quadrilateral with one pair of parallel sides.
The formula for the area of a trapezoid is shown below.
The <em>b's</em> represent the bases which are the parallel sides and <em>h</em> is the height.
So in the trapezoid shown, the bases are 6 cm and 12 cm and the height is 6 cm. Plugging this information into the formula, we have .
Next, the order of operations tell us that we must simplify inside the parentheses first. 6 cm + 12 cm is 18 cm and we have .
is 9 cm and we have 9 cm · 6 cm of 54 cm²
So the area of the trapezoid shown is 54 cm².