![\"Triangle\"](\"https:\/\/c-for-dummies.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1001-figure1.png\")
Figure 1. Calculating the area of any triangle: (base*height)\/2<\/p><\/div>\n
Oh, lots of fun can be had with triangles, especially right triangles. But weirdo triangles like the one shown in Figure 1 present an interesting problem when it comes to finding the area. I suppose you could “rotate” the triangle so that one side was flat. But other than using a ruler, obtaining the area isn’t obvious.<\/p>\n
What Heron (also known as Hero of Alexandria) did was to concoct a formula whereby you can calculate the area of a triangle when you know the length of each side. To me, this approach seems whacky, but it works. Here is Heron’s formula:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Variables a<\/em>, b<\/em>, and c<\/em> represent the lengths of the three sides of a triangle, as shown in Figure 1. Variable s<\/em> is the semi-perimeter of the triangle, calculated by using this formula:<\/p>\n As the name states, the semi-perimeter is the total of the three sides lengths divided by two. This value is plugged into Heron’s Formula to obtain the triangle’s area.<\/p>\n I’m certain that lots of interesting mathematical magic is happening to justify how and why Heron’s Formula works. This problem isn’t the one you need to solve. No, your task for this exercise is to write a program that accepts the lengths of three sides of a triangle and generates the triangle’s area as output.<\/p>\n Here is a sample run of my solution:<\/p>\n Coding the solution is the challenge, but a secondary challenge is to input proper values to represent a true triangle. You just can’t type in any values, as they may not result in a triangular shape. The Wikipedia page<\/a> on Heron’s Formula features an area calculator. Use it to test values and confirm that the data input creates triangle and to check your answer.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to view my solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Calculate the area of a triangle by inputting the lengths for its three sides. Continue reading <\/p>\n
Input the length of side A: 12
\nInput the length of side B: 16
\nInput the length of side C: 20
\nSemi-perimeter is 24.00
\nThe triangle's area is 96.00 units<\/code><\/p>\n