Knowing the length and width of a rectangle will enable you to work out the area. The area can be measured in different units.
How to work out the area of a rectangle
PROCEDURE
1
Measure the lengths of the rectangle.
2
Multiply the length by the width.
This procedure is the same as working out the area using the following formula.
A=l×w
A
The Area of the rectangle.
l
The length of the rectangle.
w
The width of the rectangle.
Units
The area of a shape can be measured in different units such as cm2 and m2.
Example 1
Find the area of the rectangle.
The length of the rectangle is 2cm and the width is 1cm. Use the formula to work out the area.
Area=l×wArea=2×1Area=2cm2
Example 2
Find the area of the rectangle.
3m
2m
The length of the rectangle is 3m and the width is 2m. Use the formula to work out the area.
Area=l×wArea=3×2Area=6m2
The rectangle in example 2 is much larger than the rectangle in example 1, because it's measured in metres.
Finding the area using squares
You can work out the area of a shape by counting the number of squares inside the shape.
Example 3
Find the area of the rectangle by counting the squares.
First count the number of squares in the rectangle.
The total number of squares is 6.
Find the total area of the shape if each square is 1m2.
The total area of the rectangle is 6m2.
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Length:
Unit 1
Length: Comparing, adding and subtracting
Unit 2
Area of rectilinear shapes
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Optional
Unit 3
Area of rectangles
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FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions
Is meters or centimetres bigger?
Meters is bigger than centimetres.
How do you work out the area of a rectangle?
There are two methods to work out the area. For the first method, you can find the length and width and then use the formula Area = length x width.
For the second method, you can work out the area of a rectangle if it is drawn on a centimetre square grid by counting the number of squares in the shape.
What units can area be measured in?
The area of a shape can be measured in different units such as cm^2 (centimetres squared) and m^2 (meters squared).