Up Your Score SAT, 2018-2019 Edition The Underground Guide to Outsmarting The Test

Often,  the SAT will    require that    you find    h   before  you can calculate   the area.

Imagine chopping    the parallelogram   along   the dotted  line    and then    attaching   your    newly   chopped triangle    to  the other   side.   Ta-da,  you’dhave   a   rectangle—which is  a   much    easier  shape   for calculating area.

—Samantha

Trapezoid: Because a trapezoid has parallel bases of two different sizes, the
area is (the average of the two bases) × height. So in this trapezoid:

We  first   take    the average of  our parallel    bases:   ,  and multiply

this by our height, 5, to get our area: 35 in^2.
If you’re curious about why these formulas work, ask a math teacher or look up a YouTube video on the subject. But for the SAT, all youhave to do is memorize them.
—Samantha

Volume: In  general,    volume  is  an  area    times   a   height.

Rectangular solid:  volume  =   length  ×   width   ×   height