Investigating Mathematics with C.a.R.

Henrico County Public Schools

Where did the missing square unit of area go?

READ the instructions on the right and INTERACT with the C.a.R. applet below.

Investigation Steps

The triangle has a height of 5 and a length of 13.

The rearranging pieces of the figure seems to lose area.

One arrangement shows a solid triangle, another shows a open space.

How is that possible? How can you explain the loss in area?

Draw the figure on graph paper and determine what happened to the missing square unit.

Hint: Are the slopes the same for each of the triangular pieces?