Area is the amount of flat space inside a shape. Think of the space a rug covers on the floor, or how much wall a poster hides. We measure area in square units, like square centimetres (cm²).
Why this matters: You need area to know how much carpet covers a room, how many tiles fit on a wall, or how much wrapping paper covers a gift. It is space, not distance round the edge.
Counting squares
Draw a shape on squared paper. Each little square is one square centimetre (1 cm²) if the squares are 1 cm across. Just count how many squares fit inside.
The rectangle above has 4 columns and 3 rows, so 4 × 3 = 12 squares. Its area is 12 cm².
A quicker way for rectangles
Instead of counting every square, multiply the two sides:
Area of a rectangle = length × width. A rug 5 m long and 3 m wide has an area of 5 × 3 = 15 square metres (m²).
| Length | Width | Area |
|---|---|---|
| 4 cm | 3 cm | 12 cm² |
| 6 cm | 2 cm | 12 cm² |
| 5 cm | 5 cm | 25 cm² |
Comparing areas
To see which shape is bigger, work out both areas and compare the numbers. The bigger number of squares means the bigger area — even if the shapes look different.