What is the Formula for the Area of a Parallelogram?

We can take the right triangle on the left side and shift it over to the right
We turned the parallelogram into a rectangle!
The height of the rectangle is the same as the height of the parallelogram: 6 centimeters
The length of the rectangle is the same as the base of the parallelogram: 12 centimeters
The area of a rectangle is its length (L) times its width (W)
The area of a parallelogram is its base (b) times its height (h)
Since we have an area, the units are centimeters squared, or cm²

1. We want to see if the parallelogram can be turned into a rectangle
2. Opposite sides of a parallelogram are congruent
3. So when we move the right triangle from the left side to the right side, the long sides will match up
1. 'L' is the length or longer side of the rectangle: it's 12 cm
2. 'W' is the width or shorter side of the rectangle: it's 6 cm
1. The length of the rectangle is the same as the base of the parallelogram
2. The width of the rectangle is the same as the height of the parallelogram
1. The length of the rectangle is the same as the base of the parallelogram
2. The width of the rectangle is the same as the height of the parallelogram
1. The length is the longer side of the rectangle
2. The width is the shorter side of the rectangle
1. The formula for the area of a parallelogram is A=bh
2. b, the base of the parallelogram, was 12 cm
3. h, the height of the parallelogram, was 6 cm
4. So we just multiply 'b' times 'h', or 12•6 to get the area
5. 12•6=72, so the area of our parallelogram is 72 cm²
6. We use cm², or centimeters squared, for our units because we have an area

What is the formula for the area of a parallelogram?