Answer: 36 square units
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Explanation:
Draw a horizontal line to cut the figure into a rectangle on top and a triangle down below.
The rectangle has length and width of 6 and 4 (horizontal and vertical components respectively). The area of this rectangle is 6*4 = 24 square units.
The triangle has a base of 6 and a height of 4. The base and height of any triangle are always perpendicular.
The area of the triangle is base*height/2 = 6*4/2 = 24/2 = 12 square units. If you were to cut out half of the triangle and rearrange things, you'll find that a rectangle can be formed. This rectangle is half in area that of the first rectangle we found. This is why we divide by 2 when finding the area of the triangle.
Once you know the two sub-areas, we add them up to get the overall area: 24+12 = 36 square units.
