College Math Placement Practice Test

The formula for calculating the area of a triangle is indeed 1/2 times the base times the height, which is why the first choice is the correct answer. This formula arises from the concept that the area of a triangle is essentially half of the area of a rectangle.

To visualize this, if you consider drawing a rectangle with the same base and height as the triangle, the area of that rectangle would be calculated as base multiplied by height. Since a triangle occupies exactly half the area of that rectangle, we apply the factor of 1/2 to the rectangle's area.

Thus, the area of a triangle can be summarized by the formula: Area = 1/2 × base × height. This formula is universally applicable for all types of triangles as long as you know the lengths of the base and the height (the perpendicular height from the base to the opposite vertex).

The other choices do not accurately represent the area of a triangle:

- Simply using base × height gives the area of a rectangle, not a triangle.

- The factor of 3/2 would imply the triangle's area is larger than what it actually is, which is incorrect.

- Base² × height resembles the formula for the volume of a prism or