Area and perimeter of parallelograms

In this lesson, we will learn:

• The basic properties of the shape of the parallelogram
• How to understand and calculate the perimeter of a parallelogram
• How to understand and calculate the area of a parallelogram

• A parallelogram is a 2D shape with 4 straight sides
• Each pair of sides (across from each other) are parallel and the same length
• The internal angles are not right angles (90°); otherwise it would be a rectangle
• Opposite angles are the same size

• A special parallelogram with all sides of equal length is called a rhombus

• The perimeter is the exact distance around the shape.
• Perimeter is a 1D (one-dimensional) quantity
• It uses units such as meters (m, cm, mm, km), miles (mi), yards (yd), or inches and feet (in and ft)


• For parallelograms, the formula is written as:
• P_{parallelogram} = $( 2 \, \times \,a) \, + \, (2\, \times \, b)$
• Where $a$ is the length of one of the sides, and $b$ is the length of the other side


• The area is the space that is covered by the shape.
• Area is a 2D (two-dimensional) quantity
• It uses squared units such as square meters (m², cm², mm², km²), square miles (mi²), square yards (yd²), or square inches and feet (in² and ft²)


• For parallelograms, the formula is written as:
• A_{parallelogram} = $b \, \times \, h$
• Where $b$ is base, and $h$ is height


• A parallelogram’s height is not the same as the slant (side) length.