The area!!

Have you ever wondered how people used to calculate the land they have. I have wondered this too. The way they did this is by area. So, do you know what area is? Area, basically means a place. But, you might be thinking, how could this be related to math. Well, I'm 99% sure you are right. Area is the calculation to figure out the measurement of a surface. So, let's get back to the people of the old times. How did they figure out area. Some might have not even been educated! The way they did it was simple and easy. You could try it too. First, make a 3 centimeters by 5 centimeters rectangle. Then, every centimeter draw a line going to exactly the opposite side. I recommend using a ruler.

(Not exact measurements)

Now, the most simple part is to count how many squares there are. Great Job! This is how people used to calculate how much land they had, or the area of their land. But, they probably had land a lot larger than a 5 cm by 3 cm rectangle. I mean, you couldn't do anything on that much land. They might have had land of 113 meters by 123 meters. But, they probably did it the same way I taught you. But, that would be a lot of counting. So, people made a simpler solution. They figured out that if you multiply the length(longer side) by the width(shorter side), you would still get the area(for a square you just square one side). Now, you try it. Try figuring out the area of a 26 meters by 34 meters rectangle. Was the area 884 meters? If it was, give yourself a pat on the back. You're a math magician!