Area of a parallelogram

- If we have a rectangle with base length b and height length h, we know how to figure out its area. Its area is just going to be the base, is going to be the base times the height. The base times the height. This is just a review of the area of a rectangle. Just multiply the base times the height. Now let's look at a parallelogram. And in this parallelogram, our base still has length b. And we still have a height h. So when we talk about the height, we're not talking about the length of these sides that at least the way I've drawn them, move diagonally. We're talking about if you go from this side up here, and you were to go straight down. If you were to go at a 90 degree angle. If you were to go perpendicularly straight down, you get to this side, that's going to be, that's going to be our height. So in a situation like this when you have a parallelogram, you know its base and its height, what do we think its area is going to be? So at first it might seem well this isn't as obvious as if we're dealing with a rectangle. But we can do a little visualization that I think will help. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to take a chunk of area from the left-hand side, actually this triangle on the left-hand side that helps make up the parallelogram, and then move it to the right, and then we will see something somewhat amazing. So I'm going to take this, I'm going to take this little chunk right there, Actually let me do it a little bit better. So I'm going to take that chunk right there. And let me cut, and paste it. So it's still the same parallelogram, but I'm just going to move this section of area. Remember we're just thinking about how much space is inside of the parallelogram and I'm going to take this area right over here and I'm going to move it to the right-hand side. And what just happened? What just happened? Let me see if I can move it a little bit better. What just happened when I did that? Well notice it now looks just like my previous rectangle. That just by taking some of the area, by taking some of the area from the left and moving it to the right, I have reconstructed this rectangle so they actually have the same area. The area of this parallelogram, or well it used to be this parallelogram, before I moved that triangle from the left to the right, is also going to be the base times the height. So the area here is also the area here, is also base times height. I just took this chunk of area that was over there, and I moved it to the right. So the area of a parallelogram, let me make this looking more like a parallelogram again. The area of a parallelogram is just going to be, if you have the base and the height, it's just going to be the base times the height. So the area for both of these, the area for both of these, are just base times height.