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[Video] E-Math Popular Exam Question: Finding Ratio of Areas in Vectors (Includes 3 Strategies & Revision of Similar Triangles)

In this post, we are going to discuss on the applications of vectors - Finding Ratio of Areas. This is a popular section in examinations and based on my many years of experience, students simply don’t like it due to many of them disliking and not making sense of the topic on Similar Triangles.

Strategy #1 : Similar Triangles

In Similar Triangles, the ratio of 2 similar triangles can be easily found by squaring the ratio of their corresponding length.

({A_1}/{A_2})=({l_1}/{l_2})^2

Strategy #2 : Common Base/Common Height

I am going to use this examination question below to illustrate the application of Strategy #2. This strategy works when the triangles shared either a common base or a common height. And that the triangles are not similar.

Watch the video below to find out if your answers are correct. Included in this video is a trick which will help you to ’see’ your answer faster!

Rate the video or leave me a comment or question.

Strategy #3 : Overlap

When strategy 1 or 2 do not work and the question involves repeated triangles, overlap is the strategy you can apply. Overlap involves equalizing of ratio of THE triangle which overlaps.

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9 Comments for [Video] E-Math Popular Exam Question: Finding Ratio of Areas in Vectors (Includes 3 Strategies & Revision of Similar Triangles)

Jimmy | March 28, 2009 at 1:12 pm

Very nice video which I think is a very useful learning tool for student.

Just a minor correction on the last part (strategy #3), you’ve written wrong multiplier for the ratio of ABD : BCD.
Instead of 5×3, you’ve written 5×5, which might cause a little confusion for viewers. Your narration is correct though.

Nice work!

Reply

alwaysLovely Reply:

Jimmy: Thanks for the encouragement. The video took me a long time :)
I appreciate you in pointing out the error.
I will correct it in my video.
I am still learning on how I can make my video clearer. Seems like the text is a little unclear. Any suggestion?

By the way, you have an interesting website!

Are you from Singapore ?

Reply

Jimmy | March 28, 2009 at 3:46 pm

Well, I think the text is clear enough. When I compare the text in your videos, it seems that the unclear text is usually the questions, which I guess is a scanned image from the hard copy. Perhaps you can try scan them at a better resolution then.
I’m not sure what screen recorder you are using, perhaps you can also tweak the settings of the recording. I’m not an expert myself, but these are just some suggestions I can think of.

I’m not from Singapore but is now in Singapore.

Keep up the good work! :-)

Reply

huaan | March 31, 2009 at 3:16 pm

Ms Ong. Why don’t we use (3/5)^2 to find the ratio of area? Isn’t it ratio of area is square of the bases? I dun understand….

Reply

alwaysLovely Reply:

This is really good question. In fact, the common misconception many students might have too!

I will answer this question by Sunday if nobody responds.

Those who know the answer to huaan question, please leave your comment.

:-)

“You learn best by sharing what you know”

Reply

summaiya | April 1, 2009 at 11:18 am

Hi

We are not using that because the triangles are not similar..We use A1/A2=(l1/l2)^2 .. only when the triangles are similar..

Reply

alwaysLovely Reply:

Good explanation!

Reply

jj | April 23, 2009 at 5:48 pm

how do you know the height of the triangles of the same? for both part (a) and (b), i cannot tell whether the height is same or not.

Reply

alwaysLovely Reply:

Height of a triangle (used in finding area) must be perpendicular to its base.

Reply

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About Ai Ling

Hi, my name is Ai Ling Ong and I'm a professional Math Trainer specializing in GCE 'O' level Mathematics (Additional & Elementary). More than 10 years of teaching experience, I have coached hundreds of students more than 80 schools in Singapore. Read more about me here
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