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Proving Area of Triangle Using Series

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Phuvit Thirasuntrakul
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
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Proving Area of

Triangle Using Series

Introduction

The formula of area of the triangle is a very well-known formula that has been taught and used

for many generations. The well-known formula can be described as , where A =

Area of the triangle, B = the length of the base of the triangle, and H = the height of the triangle.

A simple drawing of a right triangle is shown below (Fig. 1.1) to illustrate the aforementioned

formula. This famous formula can be proven in many ways, both simple and complicated. This

paper will try to prove the triangle formula with a slightly complicated method to prove that

many mathematical concepts can be used to prove one another, which is one of the beauties of

mathematics.

Fig. 1.1

Abstract

This paper will focus on proving the formula of the area of the triangle using

series. This would be done by splitting the triangle into an infinite number of squares and

triangles and finding the sum of the area of those squares or rectangles. When the triangle is split
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into a large number of squares and rectangles (X), the area of the triangle is approximately equal

to the total area of the squares and rectangles. And as X approaches infinity (X→ ∞), the area of

the triangle will be equal to the total area of squares and rectangles. The method of splitting the

triangle into squares or rectangles can easily be illustrated below (Fig 1.2).

Fig. 1.2

Body

Firstly, let’s look at an easy example with a right triangle of height H and base B, just like

what is represented in Fig. 1.1. But, now, we will divide the height H and base B into 2

equal parts, which is illustrated in Fig. 1.3. By dividing H and B into half, we can fit an

imaginary square/rectangle with length and width . Fitting an imaginary

square/rectangle into the triangle would also create two smaller triangles with base
 4

and height . Notice that these smaller triangles are similar to the original triangle

since all the angles in the smaller triangles would be the same as the angles in the

original triangle.

Fig. 1.3

What if we do this process again with the smaller triangles? Now, the height and the base of the

smaller triangles are and respectively. By dividing the height and the base of the smaller

triangles into 2 equal parts (half) would create two imaginary squares/rectangles with length

and width and four more even smaller triangles with height and base , which is

illustrated in Fig. 1.4.

Fig. 1.4

What if we do this process over and over again for a large amount of time? Let the number of

times we do this process = n. Notice that the more times we do this process over and over again,

the total area of the squares/rectangles become closer to the area of the original triangle. Hence,

if we do this process over and over again for a large amount of time , the total area of

the squares/rectangles ≈ the area of the original triangle. Therefore, when , the total

area of the imaginary squares/rectangles = the area of the original triangle.

What is the total area of the squares/rectangles? Firstly, let’s look at the area of the

square/rectangle when we do the process once, which is what is illustrated in Fig. 1.3. The

formula for the area of rectangles is the length of the base (B), multiplied by the length of the

height (H), A = BH. Hence the area of the square/triangle when we do the process once =

.
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What about if we do this process twice, which is what is illustrated in Fig. 1.4? The total area of

the squares/rectangles when we do the process twice = . What if we

do the process another time? The total area of the squares/rectangles would be equal to

Is there any pattern of the area of the new squares/rectangles created each time we do the

process(Arectangle) to the amount of time we do the process (n)? Yes! In fact, it is a geometric

progression with the initial term and the common ratio of . So, the area of

the new squares/rectangles created by doing the process the nth-time is . The total area of

the squares/rectangles created by doing the process infinity times can be expressed by this

expression . Since this is a geometric series, we can calculate the sum of this

geometric series using the formula ( Sum = ), where a = the initial term, and r = the

common ratio, since Therefore, the sum of this geometric series, which is the total area

of the squares/rectangles created by doing the process infinity times, which is also equal to the

area of the original triangle, is . This then proves the

formula of the area of the triangle which is Atriangle = .

Notice that we can also use this trick with any triangles that are not right triangles. For example,

Fig. 1.5 represents a triangle that is not a right triangle with height H and base B.

Fig. 1.5

To be able to use the same trick, we can split this triangle into two right triangles, which is

represented by the dashed line in Fig. 1.5.

Fig. 1.6

Now, we can consider two right triangles with one that has height H and base C, and one that has

height H and base D, where C+D = B. Using the geometric series discussed previously, we can

find the total area of the squares/rectangles created in both triangles which can be written as

.
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Since both of these series are geometric series with the absolute value of common ratio less than

1 , which can be expressed as , we can use the formula to find the sum of

both the series. The sum of the triangle with height H and base C is . The sum

of the triangle with height H and base D is . And the total area of both

triangles would be , which is equal to the

formula for the area of the triangle.

Conclusion

This paper proves that we can use mathematical concepts such as series to prove the

well-known triangle formula , while also showing that many mathematical

concepts can be used to derive or to prove other mathematical concepts or

mathematical formulas. This method is a creative and fun way to prove the formula that

is very well-known such as the formula for the area of a triangle. Thinking and

questioning concepts and formulas, even simple ones, that we learned in classes is a

great way to learn and understand each concept or formula better. I had a lot of fun

doing this paper, while also learning a lot of new things from it.