"Published in Newark, California, USA"
Find the area of the pentagon connecting the points (3, 0), (2, 3), (-1, 2), (-2, -1), and (0, -3).
Solution:
To illustrate the problem, it is better to draw the figure as follows
 |
| Photo by Math Principles in Everyday Life |
The area of any closed and convex polygon is given by the formula
Substitute the values of the coordinates of the vertices of a pentagon to the above equation, we have
Solve for the value of matrix, we have
Therefore, the area of a pentagon is
