Question

One base of a trapezoid is 9 feet, and the height is 4 feet. The area of the trapezoid is 28 square feet. Find the other base.

Short answer

The value of the other base is 5 feet.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1. Given Information.

The base of trapezoid is 9 feet, the height is 4 feet, and the area is 28 square feet.

Step 2. Formula used.

The formula of area of ttrapezoid is defined as,

$\text{Area}=\frac{1}{2}\times \left(\text{Sum of parallel sides}\right)\times \text{Height}$

Step 3. Calculation.

Let’s, x is missing base.

So, the parallel sides are x feet, 9 feet and height is of 4 feet.

Substitute all the values in the formula.

$\begin{array}{c}\text{Area}=\frac{1}{2}\times \left(88+62\right)\times 40\\ 28=\frac{1}{2}\times \left(x+9\right)\times 4\\ 14=x+9\\ x=14-9\\ =5\text{feet}\end{array}$

The missing base is 5 feet.