How do you find the area of an isosceles triangle?

To find the area of an isosceles triangle, use the formula: Area = 1/2 * base * height.

An isosceles triangle has two sides of equal length and a base that is different. To calculate the area, you need to know the length of the base and the height. The height is the perpendicular distance from the base to the opposite vertex (the point where the two equal sides meet).

First, identify the base (b) of the triangle. Then, determine the height (h), which is the line segment perpendicular to the base, extending from the base to the top vertex. If the height is not given, you may need to use the Pythagorean theorem to find it. For example, if you know the lengths of the equal sides (a) and the base (b), you can split the triangle into two right-angled triangles and use the formula \( h = \sqrt{a^2 - (b/2)^2} \).

Once you have both the base and the height, plug these values into the area formula: Area = 1/2 * base * height. This will give you the area of the isosceles triangle in square units. For instance, if the base is 6 cm and the height is 4 cm, the area would be 1/2 * 6 * 4 = 12 square centimetres.