Base (b)
6 units
Perp. height (h)
4 units
Area
24 sq units
Area = base × height = 6 × 4 = 24 square units
Drag the brass dot on the top edge to shear the parallelogram — watch the slant change. Then hit straighten: we cut the triangle off one end and slide it to the other. It becomes a rectangle of the same area — proof that area = base × perpendicular height.