Definition: The space occupied by a surface is known as its area. Think of area as the amount of flat space a shape covers. For example, if you want to paint a wall or put a carpet on the floor, you need to know how much flat space it takes up!
Look at the two carpets below. The red carpet covers more flat floor space than the blue carpet. Therefore, the red carpet has a larger area.
Small Area
Large Area
If we use random items (like different sized books) to measure a desk, we will get different answers depending on the unit that has been used. To avoid confusion, we need a standard unit!
The area of a square lamina of side length 1 cm is used as a standard unit to measure the area of surfaces. It is defined as one square centimetre and is denoted by 1 cm².
1 cm long & 1 cm wide
When the area is given, the unit used to measure the area too has to be mentioned.
Example 1: Finding Area by Counting
Find the area of the following figure by counting the squares. Take the area of each small square as 1 cm².
Explanation: Number of squares in the figure = 15. Area of a square is 1 cm². Therefore, Area of the figure = 15 cm².
Example 2: What About Half Squares?
Find the area of the figure by counting the squares.
Explanation: In a triangle shape, you might find some small squares and parts which are half a square each. If there are 4 half squares, since these four parts together make up two squares, you add them to the full squares to get the total area.