Composite Figures
A composite figure is made up of two or more shapes. To find the area of a composite figure, decompose the figure into shapes with areas you know. Then find the sum of these areas.
Example 1 6 m 11 m This figure can be separated into a semicircle and a parallelogram. To find the area of this composite figure, find the area of the parallelogram, and find the area of the semicircle. Then add the two areas together. Area of Parallelogram A = b(h) A = 11(6) A = 66m² Area of Semicircle Area of the composite figure Area of parallelogram + area of semicircle = 80.14m² The area of the composite figure is 80.14m².
Example 2 This figure can be separated into two parallelograms. To find the area of this composite figure, find the area of the two parallelograms. Area of the smaller parallelogram A = b(h) A = 7(7) A = 49cm² Area of the larger parallelogram A = b(h) A = 9 (20) A = 180 cm² 9 cm 20 cm 7 cm Area of the composite figure Area of sm. parallelogram + area of lg. parallelogram = 229 cm² The area of the composite figure is 229 cm².