If given only the coordinates of the vertices, describe a process you could use to find the perimeter and area of a parallelogram.

I've got my answer for finding perimeter, but I can't think of a way to calculate the area without plotting the points down and determining the height by making a perpendicular bisector for the base. So basically my question is how do you calculate the area of a parallelogram with only the knowledge of the points.

Question

If given only the coordinates of the vertices, describe a process you could use to find the perimeter and area of a parallelogram.

I've got my answer for finding perimeter, but I can't think of a way to calculate the area without plotting the points down and determining the height by making a perpendicular bisector for the base. So basically my question is how do you calculate the area of a parallelogram with only the knowledge of the points.

amriju · Answer

do u know vectors??

anonymous · Answer

I don't.

amriju · Answer

ok...leave it...so u know the lenght of the two sides and the angle between them???...that can always be determined from the points...so if the angle is x...then area=A*B*sinx...ifA nd B are the two unequal sides of the parallelogram

anonymous · Answer

Ok, thanks! I forgot about sine, cosine and tangent.

amriju · Answer

:)

amriju · Answer

BTW this concept comes from vectors...where area is defined a vector of magnitude AxB..The x is called cross product and means |ABsinx|