The sides of a quadrilateral, taken in order as 5 m, 12 m, 14 m, 15 m respectively, and the angle contained by first two sides is a right angle. Find its area.
Given that the sides of the quadrilateral are
AB = 5 m, BC = 12 m, CD =14 m and DA = 15 m
Join AC
Now area of triangle ABC = ½ × AB × BC
= 1/2× 5 × 12
$=30 \mathrm{~m}^{2}$
In triangle ABC, By applying Pythagoras theorem
$A C^{2}=A B^{2}+B C^{2}$
$A C=\sqrt{5^{2}+12^{2}}$
AC = 13 m
Now in triangle ADC,
Perimeter = 2s = AD + DC + AC
2s = 15 m + 14 m + 13 m
s = 21 m
By using Heron's Formula,
Area of the triangle PSR $=\sqrt{s \times(s-a) \times(s-b) \times(s-c)}$
$=\sqrt{21 \times(21-15) \times(21-14) \times(21-13)}$
$=84 \mathrm{~m}^{2}$
Area of quadrilateral ABCD = Area of triangle ABC + Area of triangle ADC
$=(30+84) m^{2}$
$=114 \mathrm{~m}^{2}$