What Is Area?
Area is the amount of flat space inside a shape or surface. It tells you how much space is covered, like the floor of a room or a piece of land.
Definition
Area is a measure of how many square units fit inside a flat shape. A square unit is a small square with all sides equal to 1 unit, for example 1 centimeter by 1 centimeter or 1 meter by 1 meter.
If a shape can be covered by 10 small squares of 1 square meter each, then that shape has an area of 10 square meters.
In math, area is a two dimensional measure. It uses length and width together to show how large a surface is.
History / Origin
People have used the idea of area for thousands of years. Farmers in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia needed to know the size of their fields to share land and pay taxes. They made simple rules to find the area of rectangles and triangles.
Later, Greek mathematicians like Euclid studied shapes carefully and wrote clear methods to find area using geometry. They showed how to compare areas and how to break shapes into smaller pieces to measure them.
Over time, area became a basic part of mathematics, physics, engineering and everyday life. Today, students learn area early in school because it is used in many real world problems.
Symbol & Abbreviation
The most common symbol for area in formulas is the capital letter A.
Area is always written with square units. Some common examples are:
- square millimeter written as mm2
- square centimeter written as cm2
- square meter written as m2
- square kilometer written as km2
- square inch written as in2
- square foot written as ft2
- square yard written as yd2
Special area units for land include:
- hectare written as ha
- acre written as ac
Current Use Around the World
Area is used everywhere in daily life, science and business.
In most countries, the metric system is used. Common metric area units are square meter m2, square centimeter cm2, square kilometer km2, and hectare ha for land.
In the United States and a few other places, people often use square foot ft2, square yard yd2, square mile mi2, and acre ac.
Examples of how people use area:
- Builders and architects find the area of floors, walls and roofs to plan materials.
- Real estate agents list the area of homes and apartments.
- Farmers and land owners measure fields in hectares or acres.
- Map makers and scientists measure the area of lakes, forests and cities.
- Teachers use area in math and science problems at school.
Example Conversions
Here are some simple examples of converting area between common units.
Metric to metric
- 1 m2 10 000 cm2
- 1 cm2 0.0001 m2
- 1 km2 1 000 000 m2
- 1 hectare ha 10 000 m2
Imperial and US units
- 1 ft2 144 in2
- 1 yd2 9 ft2
- 1 acre about 43 560 ft2
- 1 square mile mi2 640 acres
Metric to US units
- 1 m2 about 10.764 ft2
- 1 ft2 about 0.0929 m2
- 1 hectare about 2.471 acres
- 1 acre about 4047 m2
Simple real world example
A small bedroom is 3 meters long and 4 meters wide.
- Area length times width 3 m times 4 m 12 m2
- In square feet 12 m2 times 10.764 about 129 ft2
Related Units
Area is closely related to these other types of measurements.
- Length units like millimeter, centimeter, meter, kilometer, inch, foot, yard describe how long something is. Area uses length in two directions.
- Perimeter the distance all around the outside of a shape. It uses the same length units but does not use square units.
- Volume units like cm3, m3, liter, cubic inch measure how much space a solid takes up. Volume is three dimensional and uses cubic units.
- Surface area the total area of all faces of a 3D object, such as a cube or cylinder.
- Density of area for example people per km2 is used for population density and other studies.
FAQs
What is the simple meaning of area
Area is how much flat space a surface covers. It tells you the size of the inside of a shape like a floor, field or piece of paper.
Why are area units squared
Area uses two directions length and width. So the unit is multiplied by itself, like meter times meter, which is written as meter squared m2.
What is the basic formula for area
The basic formula for the area of a rectangle is A length times width. Many other area formulas are built from this idea.
Is area the same as perimeter
No. Area measures the inside space. Perimeter measures the distance around the edge. Two shapes can have the same perimeter but different areas.
What unit is best for measuring area
It depends on size. For small objects use cm2. For rooms use m2 or ft2. For land use hectares, acres or km2.
Can area be zero
Yes. A line or a single point has no inside space, so its area is zero. A real flat shape must have some width and length to have area.