ALEKS Practice Exam 2025 – The Complete All-in-One Guide to Mastering Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces!

The formula for the area of a triangle is derived from the concept of multiplying the base by the height and then taking half of that product. This is because a triangle can be thought of as half of a rectangle when it is drawn with its base and height.

In a triangle, the base is the length of one side, and the height is the perpendicular distance from that base to the opposite vertex. Multiplying the base by the height gives you the area of a rectangle that has the same base and height. Since a triangle occupies half the area of that rectangle, the area is expressed mathematically as ½ times the product of the base and height.

Thus, using the formula ½(base x height) accurately represents the way to calculate the area of a triangle, making it the correct choice. The other options do not reflect this geometric relationship: simply adding or multiplying the base and height does not account for the triangular shape, and squaring the product of the base and height is an incorrect operation for finding area.