A triangular sail has a base of 3 feet and a height of 5 1/2 feet. What is the area of the sail?
A = bh/2
To find the area of a triangular sail, we can use the formula:
Area of a triangle = (base * height) / 2
Given that the base of the triangular sail is 3 feet and the height is 5 1/2 feet, we can substitute these values into the formula:
Area = (3 * 5 1/2) / 2
To simplify calculations, we first need to convert the mixed number 5 1/2 into an improper fraction.
5 1/2 = 11/2 (since there are 2 halves in 1 whole)
Now, let's substitute the values and calculate the area:
Area = (3 * 11/2) / 2
= (3 * 11) / 4
= 33 / 4
Therefore, the area of the sail is 33/4 square feet.