High School

James has a decal shaped like a trapezoid. One base is 10.25 inches, and the other base is 5.3 inches. The area is 46.5 in². What is the height of the decal?

Answer :

To find the height of a trapezoid with bases of 10.25 inches and 5.3 inches and an area of 46.5 in², use the formula for the area of a trapezoid. Simplify and solve the equation to find the height is approximately 5.98 inches.

To find the height of the trapezoid, we use the formula for the area of a trapezoid:

Area = (1/2) × (Base1 + Base2) × Height

Given values:

  • Base1: 10.25 inches
  • Base2: 5.3 inches
  • Area: 46.5 in²

[tex]Plug the known values into the formula: 46.5 = (1/2) * (10.25 + 5.3) * Height\\Simplify inside the parentheses: 46.5 = (1/2) * 15.55 * Height\\Multiply by 2 to clear the fraction: 93 = 15.55 * Height[/tex]

Solve for Height: [tex]Height = 93 / 15.55[/tex] ≈ 5.98 inches

Therefore, the height of the trapezoid decal is approximately 5.98 inches.