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Mike McGarry
Lesson by Mike McGarry
Magoosh Expert

Summary
The content provides a comprehensive guide on calculating the areas of special quadrilaterals, emphasizing the importance of understanding the base and height relationship, and the application of the Pythagorean theorem for irregular shapes.
  • The area of a square is calculated as the side length squared, highlighting the geometric origin of algebraic squaring.
  • For rectangles, rhombuses, and parallelograms, the area formula is base times height, with the height being perpendicular to the base.
  • The Pythagorean theorem is crucial for finding the height in rhombuses and parallelograms when it is not directly given.
  • Trapezoids require averaging the lengths of the two bases and multiplying by the height for the area calculation.
  • Subdividing irregular quadrilaterals into rectangles and right triangles can simplify the process of finding their areas.
Chapters
00:09
Understanding Square Area
00:45
Rectangle, Rhombus, and Parallelogram Area Formulas
01:31
Applying the Pythagorean Theorem
03:04
Calculating Area of Trapezoids