Areas of Quadrilaterals - Parallelogram, Rhombus, Trapezoid, Kite
Channel: Learn Math By Doing
Date: 2020-07-23

Areas of Quadrilaterals - Parallelogram, Rhombus, Trapezoid, Kite.
Do you know that many math problems can be solved by slicing, cutting, and rearranging the resulting pieces to form a more familiar shape? For example, you can derive the formula for the area of a parallelogram by cutting it into pieces, and then rearranging the resulting pieces to form a rectangle.
In this video, we will explore the thinking process behind the derivation of the formulas for the area of rhombus, trapezoid, kite, and parallelogram. 
That technique of slicing, cutting, and summing up the areas of the pieces to determine the area of the whole is the same process employed by Sir Isaac Newton as he invented the science of fluxion, which we now call as integration. Integration is one of the three pillars of calculus. We are not diving into the formal study of calculus yet, but we are getting a glimpse of the thinking process employed to solve for the areas of unfamiliar shapes by cutting and converting them into a shape we know how to solve.