Area of a Trapezoid Practice

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Question 2
Given a trapezoid with the area of 20in2. Find the height of the trapezoid given that its parallel sides are 4in and 6in.

Answer

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A. 3 in
B. 3 in2
C. 4 in
D. 4 in2
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Step by Step Solution 

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Step 1
The picture below shows the trapezoid:
a trapezoid with the height h and parallel sides of 4in and 6in

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Step 2
Since the value of the area is given as 20in2, we can substitute A with 20. Similarly, since the parallel sides are given as 4in and 6in, we can substitute a with 4 and b with 6 as shown below:
calculating the height of a trapezoid

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Step 3
Now, we have 5h = 20. To find h, we need to remove 5. We can do so by dividing both sides of the equation with 5. This is shown below:  
solving the equation for h
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Step 4
Now, the calculated number 4, has no meaning unless we include the unit for it. Since the area is in inch2, h will be in inch. Hence:
h = 4in
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Step 5
Therefore, the answer is C.

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