What is the formula to calculate the area of a rectangle?

What is the formula to calculate the area of a rectangle?

• A. Area = length + width.
• B. Area = length × width.
• C. Area = width ÷ length.
• D. Area = length^2.

Answer: (B)

The main idea is that the area of a rectangle is found by multiplying its two dimensions. Area tells you how many unit squares fit inside, and for a rectangle you get that by length times width. For example, if a rectangle is 3 units long and 4 units wide, its area is 12 square units. The other formulas won’t give the area in general: adding length and width doesn’t count unit squares, and dividing width by length gives a ratio rather than a surface measure. Length squared would only equal area if the rectangle were a square with equal sides. So the correct formula is area equals length times width.

The main idea is that the area of a rectangle is found by multiplying its two dimensions. Area tells you how many unit squares fit inside, and for a rectangle you get that by length times width. For example, if a rectangle is 3 units long and 4 units wide, its area is 12 square units. The other formulas won’t give the area in general: adding length and width doesn’t count unit squares, and dividing width by length gives a ratio rather than a surface measure. Length squared would only equal area if the rectangle were a square with equal sides. So the correct formula is area equals length times width.