are of an irregular hexagon with 12 m side b and 8 m side a

To find the area of an irregular hexagon with side lengths 12 m and 8 m, you can divide the hexagon into smaller triangles and then calculate the area of each triangle separately.

First, divide the hexagon into 4 triangles by drawing a diagonal from one corner to the opposite corner.

Each triangle will have two sides of length 12 m (side b) and one side of length 8 m (side a).

Using Heron's formula to calculate the area of each triangle, you'll need to find the semi-perimeter (s) first:

s = (12 + 12 + 8) / 2 = 16

Then, you can calculate the area of each triangle using the formula:

Area of a triangle = √(s * (s - a) * (s - b) * (s - c))

where a, b, and c are the sides of the triangle.

Triangle 1:
Area = √(16 * (16 - 8) * (16 - 12) * (16 - 12))
= √(16 * 8 * 4 * 4)
= √(2048)
≈ 45.25 m²

Triangle 2, 3, and 4:
Since all the triangles have the same sides, their areas will be the same as Triangle 1, which is approximately 45.25 m².

Finally, the total area of the irregular hexagon will be the sum of the areas of the 4 triangles:

Total Area = 45.25 m² + 45.25 m² + 45.25 m² + 45.25 m²
= 181 m²

Therefore, the area of the irregular hexagon is approximately 181 square meters.

To find the area of an irregular hexagon, we can break it down into smaller shapes. In this case, we can split the hexagon into two trapezoids and a rectangle.

Step 1: Find the area of the rectangle.
The rectangle has a length equal to the difference between the lengths of sides a and b (12 m - 8 m = 4 m), and a width equal to the shorter side (8 m).
Area of the rectangle = Length x Width = 4 m x 8 m = 32 square meters.

Step 2: Find the area of the trapezoids.
To find the area of a trapezoid, we need the lengths of the two parallel sides (bases) and the height.
In this case, the bases are sides a and b, and the height can be calculated using the Pythagorean theorem.

a^2 = c^2 - b^2 (where c is the length of the side joining the two bases)
a^2 = 12^2 - 8^2
a^2 = 144 - 64
a^2 = 80
a = √80 ≈ 8.94 m

Now, we can calculate the height as the difference between side a and side b.
Height = a - b = 8.94 m - 8 m = 0.94 m

The area of a trapezoid is given by the formula:
Area = (a + b) * h / 2

Area of each trapezoid = ((8 m + 8.94 m) * 0.94 m) / 2 ≈ 7.52 square meters

Step 3: Add up the areas of the rectangle and the two trapezoids.
Total area of the irregular hexagon = Area of the rectangle + 2 * Area of the trapezoids
= 32 square meters + 2 * 7.52 square meters
= 32 square meters + 15.04 square meters
= 47.04 square meters

Therefore, the approximate area of the irregular hexagon is 47.04 square meters.