Triangle Area Calculator from Three Lines

An Online calculator to calculate the area of a triangle formed by three lines as shown in the figure below.

Triangle formed by three lines
Figure 1. Triangle from three lines

Formulas Used

Let the three lines be given by the equations:

\[L_1: a_1 x + b_1 y = c_1\] \[L_2: a_2 x + b_2 y = c_2\] \[L_3: a_3 x + b_3 y = c_3\]

The intersection point \(A\) of \(L_1\) and \(L_2\) is found using Cramer's rule:

\[x_A = \frac{\begin{vmatrix} c_1 & b_1 \\ c_2 & b_2 \end{vmatrix}}{\begin{vmatrix} a_1 & b_1 \\ a_2 & b_2 \end{vmatrix}}, \quad y_A = \frac{\begin{vmatrix} a_1 & c_1 \\ a_2 & c_2 \end{vmatrix}}{\begin{vmatrix} a_1 & b_1 \\ a_2 & b_2 \end{vmatrix}}\]

Similarly for points \(B\) (\(L_2 \cap L_3\)) and \(C\) (\(L_1 \cap L_3\)).

The area is then calculated using Heron's formula:

\[s = \frac{AB + BC + CA}{2}\] \[\text{Area} = \sqrt{s(s-AB)(s-BC)(s-CA)}\]

Triangle from Three Lines

Enter coefficients for three lines in the form \(ax + by = c\)

Intersection Points

Point \(A\) (\(L_1 \cap L_2\))

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Point \(B\) (\(L_2 \cap L_3\))

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Point \(C\) (\(L_1 \cap L_3\))

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Practice Activities

a) \(L_1: x = -7,\; L_2: x + 5y = 8,\; L_3: -x + 5y = 2\)
Answer: 20 square units
b) \(L_1: 5x + 6y = -17,\; L_2: y = 3,\; L_3: -5x + 4y = -3\)
Answer: 25 square units
c) \(L_1: -7x + 19y = -8,\; L_2: -3x + 2y = 15,\; L_3: x - 15y = -48\)
Answer: 43 square units

Tip: For vertical lines \(x = k\), set \(a=1, b=0, c=k\). For horizontal lines \(y = k\), set \(a=0, b=1, c=k\).

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