To determine which side is the base, first confirm that ∠DEC is a right angle.
A=4 square units.
Practice makes perfect
To find the area of the triangle △CDE, we first need to consider what we need to apply the formula for the area of a triangle.
A=1/2bh
We need a base and a height. Based on the given figure, △CDE appears to be a right triangle with base ED and height EC. Before calculating leg lengths or area, we will need to confirm that these segments are perpendicular by checking whether their slopes are negative reciprocals.
Two lines are perpendicular to each other if the product of their slopes is - 1, negative reciprocals. Let's see if m_(ED) and m_(EC) qualify.
m_(ED)* m_(EC)=- 1 * 1=- 1
These segments are indeed perpendicular to one another, so we can proceed to the next step.
Calculating Leg Lengths
Since △CDE is a right triangle, let's treat ED as the base and EC as the height. To calculate their lengths, we need to use the given points in the Distance Formula. Let's start with the base ED.
