Given:
Given that the height of the pyramid is 20 inches.
The sides of the triangle are 9 in, 12 in and 15 in.
The expression for the area of the base written by JO is [tex]\frac{1}{2}(9 \cdot 15)[/tex]
The expression for the area of the base written by MAE is [tex]\frac{1}{2}(9 \cdot 12)[/tex]
We need to determine the correct expression for the area of the base written by the student.
Expression for the area of the base:
The area of the base of the triangular prism can be determined using the formula,
[tex]B=\frac{1}{2}bh[/tex]
where b is the base of the triangle and h is the height of the triangle.
From the figure, the base of the triangle is 9 inches and the height of the triangle is 12 inches.
Substituting in the above formula, we get;
[tex]B=\frac{1}{2}(9 \cdot 12)[/tex]
Thus, the correct expression for the area of the base is [tex]B=\frac{1}{2}(9 \cdot 12)[/tex]
Hence, the expression wrote by MAE is correct.
