Heron's Formula
Area of a Triangle from its Sides
You know that the
formula for calculating the area of a triangle is 1/2 × base ×
height.
Heron's formula
is named after Hero of Alexandria, a Greek Engineer and Mathematician in 10 -
70 AD. You can calculate the area of a triangle if you know the lengths of all
three sides.
Therefore, you do not have to rely
on the formula for area that uses base and height.
Just use these
two steps:
Step
1: Calculate "s" (semi-perimeter).
Step 2: Then calculate the area using the following formula.
Step 2: Then calculate the area using the following formula.
Example: What is the area of a
triangle with side lengths 4 cm, 6 cm and 8 cm?
Solution: Here, a = 4 cm, b = 6 cm and
c = 8 cm.
Thus, s = (4 + 6 + 8)/2 = 9
