Draw the polygon. What do you need to know to be able to calculate its area?
24.5 square units
Practice makes perfect
When drawing the polygon, the first thing we should notice is its shape. This polygon has three vertices, so it's a triangle. Let's draw it in a coordinate plane.
To calculate the triangle's area, we can use the formula for the area of a triangle.
A=1/2bh
In this formula, b is the length of the base of the triangle and h is the height of the triangle. The base of this triangle is the side JK. The height spans from JK to point L. Let's mark the height.
We can find the length of the base using the Ruler Postulate with the x-coordinates.
JK=|4 - (- 3)|=7
Thus, b= 7. The height can be found by counting the unit grid lines. From the base to L, there are seven units. Therefore, h= 7. Now we are ready to calculate the area of the triangle.
