In the trapezoid area formula, what does h represent?

• A. Base
• B. Radius
• C. Height
• D. Diagonal

Answer: (C)

The height is the perpendicular distance between the two parallel sides (the bases) of a trapezoid. In the area formula A = 1/2 (b1 + b2) h, the h is that distance, the way tall the trapezoid sits between its bases. The bases are the two parallel sides, whose lengths are b1 and b2, and you take their average and multiply by how tall the shape is to get the area. This height is measured straight up and down from one base to the other, at right angles to the bases.

Radius belongs to circles, not trapezoids, and a diagonal is just a line connecting opposite corners and doesn’t represent the distance between the bases. If you know the bases and the height, you can find the area, for example, with bases 6 and 10 and height 4: area = 1/2 (6 + 10) × 4 = 32 square units.