MAC 1114 Trigonometry
Finding Area of Irregular Shapes
Part 1
Find the area of the following figure using two different methods.
1) First measure the side lengths and angles using a ruler and a protractor.
2) Remember that the interior angles of a closed region should total (n-2)(180) where n is the
number of sides. Check to see that yours are adding up to the correct number.
3) Divide the area into two triangles.
4) Use the triangle area formula Area =
2
1
ab Sin C twice to find the total area.
Y
X
5) Find the coordinates of the vertices.
6) Compute the area of the same region using the latitude and departure method.
7) Compute the percent error between the two area results.
A detailed explanation can be fount at
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