Area of Rectangles
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Basics on the topic Area of Rectangles
Finding the Area of Rectangles and Squares
How many suitcases fit in the boot of your parents’ car? To find out, you need to learn about finding the area of rectangles and squares.Finding the area of squares and rectangles is a simple process.
- The formula for finding area is area = length x width.
Finding the Area of Squares and Rectangles – Example
Let’s look at an example of a rectangle and how to find the area of our example rectangle. These are the steps to follow in order to find the area of the rectangle.
- First, you count the unit squares along the length.
- Then you count the unit squares along the width.
- Finally, you multiply the length by the width to find the area.
In the below example, the length is five, and the width is three. We multiply them to get fifteen, which is our area!
Finding the Area of Rectangles and Squares – Steps
These are the steps to follow when you need to find the area of a rectangle or a square:
| Step # | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Count the unit squares along the length. |
| 2 | Count the unit squares along the width. |
| 3 | Multiply the unit squares length by width to find the area. |
Using our example from earlier, this is how you use the formula to find the area of a square or a rectangle:
| Formula: | length | x | width | = area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example: | 5 | x | 3 | = 15 |
Finding the Area of Rectangles and Squares – Summary
Remember, to find the area of rectangles and squares, use the formula area = length x width. Count the length, then count the width, and finally multiply them together to find the area. Below you will find an area of rectangles and squares exercises and worksheets for KS2.
Transcript Area of Rectangles
Zuri and Freddie are getting ready to hunt for some new items for their home. They need help determining the area of some items so that they can decide whether they will fit or not. To do this, we need to find the area of rectangles. Area is the amount of space taken up by an object on a flat surface. To calculate the area of a rectangle we can use the formula area equals length times width. Firstly, we count the unit squares along the length, Next, we count the unit squares along the width. The length of this rectangle is five unit squares and the width is 3 unit squares. To find the area of the rectangle we need to multiply the length by the width. Five multiplied by three is fifteen so the area of this rectangle would be fifteen square units. Let's calculate the area of Zuri and Freddie's home so that they know how much space they have. Here is the floor plan. Remember the formula. Area equals length times width. First, count the unit squares along the length which is six. Then count the unit squares along the width which is four. To find the area we multiply six by four which is twenty-four! Zuri and Freddie's home is twenty-four square units. It looks like Freddie has found a rug so let's help him to find its area! Remember, area equals length times width. What is the first step? Count the unit squares along the length. How many unit squares is the length? It is seven. What is the next step? Count the unit squares along the width. How many unit squares wide is the rug? It is four unit squares wide. Now calculate the area. What is seven times four? It is twenty-eight, so the rug has an area of twenty-eight square units! "Hmm, that's probably not going to fit because our home is only twenty-four square units how about this?" Zuri has found a coffee table, so let's calculate its area! Even though the table is a square, the formula for calculating the area still works because a square is also a rectangle! Use the formula: area equals length times width. What is the multiplication sentence for the area of the coffee table? It is two times two. What is two times two? It is four, so the area of the coffee table is four square units! "That will fit perfectly, Zuri!" While Zuri and Freddie finish up, let's review. Remember, to calculate the area of rectangles you can use ‘area equals length times width’. First, count the unit squares along the length. Next, count the unit squares along the width. Finally, multiply the length by the width to find the area. "Freddie What are you doing?" "The rug may not fit our home, but it sure makes a great royal cape to be king for a day!"
Area of Rectangles exercise
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How do you find the area of a rectangle?
HintsFirst of all, we need to find the length and the width of the rectangle.
Once we know the length and width measurements, we can multiply them together to find the answer.
Solution- First, count the unit squares along the length. (For example, in the picture above the length is 4 units.)
- Next, count the unit squares along the width. (For example, in the picture above the width is 3 units.)
- After that, multiply the length by the width. (For example, 4 x 3.)
- Finally, solve the multiplication equation. (For example, 4 x 3 = 12. We now know the area of the rectangle: 12 square units.)
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Calculate the area of each item.
HintsWork out the length and the width of each item first.
Multiply the length by the width to find out the area.
SolutionThis is the area of each rectangular item.
18 square units
- The length is 6 units.
- The width is 3 units.
- 6 x 3 = 18
- The area is 18 square units.
- The length is 4 units.
- The width is 6 units.
- 4 x 6 = 24
- The area is 24 square units.
- The length is 10 units.
- The width is 6 units.
- 10 x 6 = 60
- The area is 60 square units.
- The length is 11 units.
- The width is 5 units.
- 11 x 5 = 55
- The area is 55 square units.
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What is the area of this rug?
HintsRemember, to find the area we need to multiply the length of the rectangle by the width.
Freddie and Zuri's rug is 3 units long and 3 units wide, so they need to multiply 3 x 3 to find the area.
SolutionThe area of the rug is 9 square units.
The length of the rug is 3 units and the width of the rug is 3 units, therefore we need to multiply 3 x 3.
3 x 3 = 9, so the area is therefore 9 square units.
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What is the area?
HintsWork out the area of each rectangle by multiplying the length by the width.
Do you know the factors of 12 and 24? These could help you to sort the areas.
SolutionHere are the rectangles correctly highlighted.
24 square units (blue)
- Four rectangles had an area of 24 square units:
- 3 x 8
- 12 x 2
- 6 x 4
- 4 x 6
- Three rectangles had an area of 12 square units:
- 6 x 2
- 3 x 4
- 12 x 1
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What is the area of each object?
HintsRemember, to work out the area we need to multiply the length by the width.
For example, to find the area of this rectangle we would multiply 7 x 2.
SolutionHere is the area of each rectangular object.
6 square units
- The length of this rectangle is 3 units.
- The width of this rectangle is 2 units.
- 3 x 2 = 6
- The area is 6 square units
- The length of this rectangle is 5 units.
- The width of this rectangle is 2 units.
- 5 x 2 = 10
- The area is 10 square units
- The length of this rectangle is 5 units.
- The width of this rectangle is 3 units.
- 5 x 3 = 15
- The area is 15 square units
- The length of this rectangle is 4 units.
- The width of this rectangle is 2 units.
- 4 x 2 = 8
- The area is 8 square units
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Which rectangles have the same area?
HintsThe length and the width of each rectangle is shown. Multiply these to find the area.
To work out the area of this rectangle, we would multiply 3 x 5 to get 15.
Think about the times table facts you know to help with multiplication.
SolutionTo find the area of a rectangle we multiply the length by the width.
36 square units
- 6 x 6 = 36
- 9 x 4 = 36
- 10 x 4 = 40
- 8 x 5 = 40
- 7 x 6 = 42
- 14 x 3 = 42
- 12 x 4 = 48
- 8 x 6 = 48
