Here is a rectangle that is 10 cm long and 6 cm wide. To find the total area of the rectangle, we simply need to count the number of 1 cm 2 squares that fit inside it. Inside the rectangle we can look at individual squares.

In this example we will use centimetre squares. Measuring the length or width in a given unit of measurement tells us how many of these units can fit in this direction. Multiplying the length by the width gives the total number of unit squares inside a rectangle and hence, the area. The length is the number of unit squares that fit in each row and the width is the number of rows of squares. The area of a rectangle is the number of unit squares that fit inside it. Why is the Area of a Rectangle Length Times Width? L 2 means to multiply the value of L by itself. Using the alternative form of the formula, we have Area = L 2. We simply multiply 6 by 6.Ħ cm × 6 cm = 36 cm 2 and so, the area of this square is 36 cm 2. The area of a square is found by Area = Side Length × Side Length. Here is an example of using the formula for the area of a square with a worded problem. This formula can be written more simply as Area = L 2, where L is the length of one side of the square. The formula for the area of a square is Area = Side Length × Side Length. However, the length and the width are both the same on a square, which makes it even easier to find the area. Multiplying the length by the width, the area is 3 m × 3m = 9 m 2.īecause a square is a type of rectangle, the formula for calculating the area of a square is the same as the formula for calculating the area of a rectangle. Here is a square with a side length of 3 m.Ī square is a special type of rectangle that has all of its sides the same length.īecause all of the sides of the square are 3 m long, the length and the width must both be 3 m long. For example, if a square has a side length of 3 m, then its area is 3 m × 3m = 9 m 2. To find the area of a square, multiply the length of one side by itself. In this worded problem, we just need to find the two numbers that show the length and width.Īrea = 7 × 5 = 35. The area is found by multiplying the length and the width. Here is a word problem for finding the area of a rectangle. The units for the area are cm 2 since we measured the sides in centimetres.

Here is an example of using the formula to calculate the area of a rectangle.Ī = 9 × 4 = 36. This formula can be written as A = L × W or as A = LW. The formula for the area of a rectangle is Area = Length × Width. In this example, the length is 8 cm and the width is 5 cm.Ĩ × 5 = 40 and the units for the area of this rectangle are cm 2. The length of a rectangle is the longest side and the width is the shortest side. For example, for a rectangle of length 8 cm and width 5 cm, the area is 8 cm × 5 cm = 40 cm 2. To find the area of a rectangle, multiply its length by its width.

Formula to calculate area of rectangle