The area of a rectangle is the number of square units that are within its length and width. The 'length' and 'width' are also known as the 'base' and 'height'. Oftentimes, the terms length and width are used when doing problems involving perimeter and base, b, and height, h, are used when doing problems involving area. The formula is A = b * h. The units for the base and height must be alike and the units for the area will be 'square units', such as 'square feet'. For this problem set the units are ignored. Emphasis is on knowing what to do.
A rectangle may have a base of 4.3 and a height of 8. The area is found like this: A = b * h becomes A = 4.3 * 8 which is 34.4. You may change the order of the factors to look like this: A = 8 * 4.3 which can be 'broken' to become A = 8(4 + 0.3) which becomes A = 8 * 4 + 8 * 0.3 which becomes A = 32 + 2.4 which becomes A = 34.4. Easy. Breaking apart numbers to be able to do them as smaller parts makes the problem a 'mental math' problem. Easy.
You will be given the base and height of a rectangle, such as 4 & 7.6. Find the area of the rectangle. Strive for being able to do the problems with ease and then strive for speed. Enjoy the challenge!