Apply Distributive Property to Find Area of a Rectangle

Apply Distributive Property to Find Area of a Rectangle

We can find the area of a large rectangle by adding the areas of the two smaller rectangles.

Apply Distributive Property to Find Area of a Rectangle

• Find the area of the gray rectangle by multiplying the side lengths.

• Find the area of the white rectangle by multiplying the side lengths.

• Add the areas together to find the total area of the large rectangle.

Multiple Choice

How many rows are in this large rectangle?

• 8

• 10

Multiple Choice

Which factor did they break up? The 10 rows or the 8 columns?

• 10 rows

• 8 columns

Multiple Choice

How many rows are in this large rectangle?

• 13

• 5

Multiple Choice

Which factor did they break up, the 13 rows or the 5 columns?

• 5 columns

• 13 rows

Distributive Property to Find Area of Rectangles

• Break up the largest number (it could be rows or columns).

• Find the area of each rectangle by multiplying the lengths of the sides or their rows and columns.

• Add the products or total area of each separate rectangle together to get the area of the big or whole rectangle.