Area in Square Centimetres
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Basics on the topic Area in Square Centimetres
What is the Area in Square Centimetres?
Measuring the area of a shape means that you are measuring the amount of space inside the shape. This is done for a flat object such as a rectangle, square or triangle and is commonly done in units called square centimetres (cm²). Therefore, when we are asked to find the area in square centimetres of a flat shape, we are basically being asked for the number of 1 cm² squares that can fit into that shape.
For example, the area in square centimetres of the following rectangle is 12 square centimetres. This means that 12 squares, which each measure 1 square centimetre, fit inside that rectangle.
How to Work Out Square Centimetres
Fnding the area in square centimetres of a rectangle by counting the number of squares within that shape. However, this is not always possible and can take a lot of time, so mathematicians use formulas to calculate the area. To find the area in square centimetres of a rectangle, you can multiply the length by the width using the following formula:
A = l x w
A is the area, l is the length, and w is the width.
Area in Square Centimetres – Example
Looking at the rectangle from earlier, notice that there are 12 squares inside. This means that the area in square centimetres is 12cm².
When we are calculating the area of a shape, we can also find the same answer using the formula.
A = l x w = 4cm x 3cm =12 cm²
How to Calculate Square Centimetres
Here are some more examples for our formula area = length x width.
| Length (cm) | Width (cm) | Area (cm²) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 8 | 16 |
| 5 | 10 | 50 |
| 12 | 6 | 72 |
How to Find Length and Width from Area
Area is equal to length x width so that means we can use the area to find the length and width of a rectangle. When finding length and width from area, we need to know the area measurement and either the length or width measurement. We can then divide the area by the length or width to find the missing value. Area is length times width therefore length is area divided by width and width is area divided by length.
How to Find the Length and Width of an Area
Let’s look at some examples of how to find the length and width of a rectangle when given the area. If we had a rectangle with an area of 12 cm² and a width of 3 cm, we would divide 12 by 3 to find the length. 12 divided by 3 equals 4, therefore the length of the rectangle would be 4 cm. You can see more examples in the table below.
| Area = 15 cm² | Length = 5 cm | Width = 15 ÷ 5 | Width = 3 cm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Area = 24 cm² | Width = 8 cm | Length = 24 ÷ 8 | Length = 3 cm |
Area in Square Centimetres – Summary
The area in square centimetres of a flat object is the number of 1 cm² squares that can fit in it.
When finding the area in square centimetres of a rectangle;
- First: ensure that the length and width are in centimetres
- Then: Use the formula area = length x width and multiply the length by the width
- Finally: write your answer followed by cm².
Continue learning about area in square centimetres by using our interactive exercises, worksheets and other fun activities.
Frequently Asked Questions on Area in Square Centimetres
Transcript Area in Square Centimetres
“Zuri, what are we going to do? I don’t think he plans on going anywhere.” “Maybe we can convince him to leave by giving him a nice place of his own?” “Yes, we can build him the perfect place to live!” We can help Zuri and Freddie build their unwanted guest the perfect home by measuring area in square centimetres. When measuring shapes, we can find the distance around the outside of the shape, called the perimeter and the amount of space a shape covers on the inside. Area is the measurement of the inside of a shape. It is the amount of space taken up by an object on a flat surface. We can find the area of a rectangular shape by using the formula, Area equals length times width or A equals L times W for short. Using this formula and the two measurements we do know, we can solve for unknown parts. Zuri and Freddie found some lolly sticks in the landfill and decided to make Mr. Bee a lovely fenced in flower garden! The garden covers ninety-six square centimetres altogether and the garden is eight centimetres wide. The measurement we are missing is the length of the garden. In order to solve, we put all of the numbers into the formula and read this as ninety-six equals the length times eight. To solve for the length, we ask ourselves, what number times eight is equal to ninety-six? Think about how you could find the answer. Twelve times eight equals ninety-six so the length is twelve centimetres. Zuri and Freddie found some building blocks and thought these would make a great front porch! The area of the porch measures two hundred and fifty square centimetres in total and the length is twenty-five centimetres. What is the missing measurement? We need to solve for the width. First, we replace the formula with the numbers we know. The equation is two hundred and fifty equals twenty-five times W. To solve for the missing width, we want to ask ourselves 'twenty-five times what number equals two-hundred and fifty? What is the width? The width of the porch is ten centimetres. Zuri and Freddie found the perfect house, an old box! Look at the dimensions of the area covered in this space. What do we know about the area of the box? We know that the total area covered is seven hundred centimetres squared and the length is thirty-five centimetres. What is the equation for the area of the box? It is seven hundred equals thirty-five times the width. How do we solve the equation? We ask ourselves, thirty-five times what number equals seven hundred? This time, try to find the missing measurement on your own. Pause the video so you have time to work and press play again when you're ready to see the answer! What is the width of the box? It is twenty centimetres since thirty-five times twenty is seven hundred. In the comments section, describe the way you solved this problem. Remember, area is the measurement of the inside of a shape. We solve for the area of a rectangular shape by using the formula, A equals L times W. Replace the measurements in the equation with what we know and use multiplication strategies to solve for the missing information. "Oh Zuri, I am really going to miss him!"
Area in Square Centimetres exercise
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What is the area of each room?
HintsTo find the area of a rectangle, we need to multiply the length by the width.
For example, if we were finding the area of this rectangle we would multiply 6 x 3 to get 18cm².
SolutionTo find the area, we multiply the length by the width.
- 5 x 4 = 20; area = 20 cm²
- 6 x 4 = 24; area = 24 cm²
- 5 x 3 = 15; area = 15 cm²
- 7 x 3 = 21; area = 21 cm²
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Can you find the missing measurements?
HintsRemember: Area = length x width or A = l x w.
For the room on the left, you are trying to find the area so you need to multiply the length by the width.
For the room on the right, the length is missing. That means that you need to divide the area by the width.
SolutionThe room on the left was missing the area. To find this out we need to:
- multiply the length by the width.
- 6 x 4 = 24.
- Therefore, the area is 24 cm².
- divide the area by the width.
- 20 $\div$ 4 = 5.
- Therefore, the length is 5cm.
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What is the area of each room?
HintsFirst, find the length and the width of each room.
Multiply the length and the width together to find the area.
For example, if we were finding the area of this room we would multiply the length of 4 cm by the width of 3 cm.
- 4 x 3 = 12
- Area = 12 cm²
SolutionTo find the area we multiply the length by the width.
12 cm²
- The room with a length of 4 cm and a width of 3 cm. 4 cm x 3 cm = 12 cm².
- The room with a length of 6 cm and a width of 2 cm. 6 cm x 2 cm = 12 cm².
- The room with a length of 5 cm and a width of 3 cm. 5 cm x 3 cm = 15 cm².
- The room with a length of 5 cm and a width of 4 cm. 5 cm x 4 cm = 20 cm².
- The room with a length of 10 cm and a width of 2 cm. 10 cm x 2 cm = 20 cm².
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Missing measurements.
HintsTo find the area, multiply the length by the width.
To find the length or the width, divide the area by the measurement you know.
Remember, area measurements always have ² at the end.
SolutionWooden board
- We were given the length and the width, so we were finding the area.
- Multiply the length by the width.
- 10 x 10 = 100, therefore the area is 100cm².
- We were given the area and the width, so we were finding the length.
- Divide the area by the width.
- 8 $\div$ 2 = 4, therefore the length is 4 cm.
- We were given the area and the length, so we were finding the width.
- Divide the area by the length.
- 70 $\div$ 10 = 7, therefore the width is 7 cm.
- We were given the length and the width, so we were finding the area.
- Multiply the length by the width.
- 9 x 8 = 72, therefore the area is 72cm².
- We were given the area and the length, so we were finding the width.
- Divide the area by the length.
- 40 $\div$ 8 = 5, therefore the width is 5 cm.
- We were given the area and the length, so we were finding the width.
- Divide the area by the length.
- 150 $\div$ 15 = 10, therefore the width is 10 cm.
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What is the area of the garden?
HintsRemember, area = length x width.
This is the length.
This is the width.
So we need to multiply 4 x 3 to find the area.
SolutionTo find the area we multiply the length by the width, so we multiply 4 x 3 to get 12.
The area therefore is 12 cm².
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Floor plan puzzle.
HintsTo find the length, you need to divide the area by the width.
Remember, the length of the smaller room is half the length of the larger room. You will need this measurement to find the area of the smaller room.
To find the area, multiply the length by the width.
SolutionFirst, we needed to find the length of the larger room.
To do this, we needed to divide the area by the width.
60 $\div$ 5 = 12.
We then needed the length measurement of the smaller room. We were told this was half the length of the larger room.
The length of the larger room is 12 cm, so we need to halve 12.
12 $\div$ 2 = 6.
Now we have the length and the width of the smaller room, we can multiply them to find the area.
6 x 5 = 30.
The area of the smaller room is 30 cm².
