Difference between revisions of "Heron's Formula"
(→Example) |
m (→Example) |
||
Line 41: | Line 41: | ||
Let's say that you have a right triangle with the sides <math>3</math> ,<math>4</math> , and <math>5</math>. Your semi- perimeter would be <math>6</math> since <math>(3+4+5)</math> ÷ <math>2</math> is <math>6</math>. | Let's say that you have a right triangle with the sides <math>3</math> ,<math>4</math> , and <math>5</math>. Your semi- perimeter would be <math>6</math> since <math>(3+4+5)</math> ÷ <math>2</math> is <math>6</math>. | ||
Then you have <math>6-3=3</math>, <math>6-4=2</math>, <math>6-5=1</math>. | Then you have <math>6-3=3</math>, <math>6-4=2</math>, <math>6-5=1</math>. | ||
− | <math>1 | + | <math>1\cdot 2\cdot 3=6.</math> |
<math> 6\cdot 6 = 36</math> | <math> 6\cdot 6 = 36</math> | ||
The square root of <math>36</math> is <math>6</math>. The area of your triangle is <math>6</math>. | The square root of <math>36</math> is <math>6</math>. The area of your triangle is <math>6</math>. |
Revision as of 20:28, 21 April 2022
Heron's Formula (sometimes called Hero's formula) is a formula for finding the area of a triangle given only the three side lengths.
Contents
[hide]Theorem
For any triangle with side lengths , the area can be found using the following formula:
where the semi-perimeter .
Proof
Isosceles Triangle Simplification
for all triangles
for all isosceles triangles
simplifies to
Example
Let's say that you have a right triangle with the sides , , and . Your semi- perimeter would be since ÷ is . Then you have , , . The square root of is . The area of your triangle is .
See Also
External Links
In general, it is a good advice not to use Heron's formula in computer programs whenever we can avoid it. For example, whenever vertex coordinates are known, vector product is a much better alternative. Main reasons:
- Computing the square root is much slower than multiplication.
- For triangles with area close to zero Heron's formula computed using floating point variables suffers from precision problems.