Parallelogram Area Calculator
Find the area of any parallelogram: enter the base length and the perpendicular height (not the slant side) and get the area instantly. Add the side length to also compute the perimeter.
units
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A = base × height
- 1
Base (b)
8 - 2
Height (h)
5Use the perpendicular height, not the slant side. - 3
Area = b × h
8 × 5 = 40
How does this calculator work?
Parallelogram area = base × perpendicular height (A = b × h). Height is the vertical distance between the two bases — not the slant side. Perimeter = 2(a + b) where a is the slant-side length. Enter base and height for area; add side for perimeter.
Formula
How this is calculated
A parallelogram is a four-sided shape with two pairs of parallel sides. Its area equals the base multiplied by the perpendicular height — the vertical distance between the two base edges, not the length of the slanted side. This formula A = b × h comes from the fact that any parallelogram can be rearranged into a rectangle of the same base and height by slicing off a triangular corner and reattaching it on the other side. The result is identical to the rectangle area formula.
The height must be measured perpendicularly to the base. If you know the slant angle θ between the side and the base, the perpendicular height equals h = a × sin(θ), where a is the side length. In this calculator you enter the perpendicular height directly.
The perimeter requires the length of one side pair (a) in addition to the base (b), since P = 2(a + b). The area, by contrast, does not depend on the side length at all — only on base and height.
Frequently asked questions
Area measures the enclosed surface, which depends on how spread out the shape is — not how long its sides are. Two parallelograms with identical bases and slant sides but different slant angles have different areas because the perpendicular height (the true spread) differs. A = b × h uses the perpendicular height, which directly measures that spread.
If you know side a and the interior angle θ, the perpendicular height is h = a × sin(θ). Enter that value as the height. For example, if a = 6 and θ = 60°, then h = 6 × sin(60°) ≈ 5.196.
All three are parallelograms (two pairs of parallel sides). A rhombus is a parallelogram where all four sides are equal. A rectangle is a parallelogram where all four angles are right angles. A square is both. The area formula A = b × h works for all of them.
Also known as
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. (2026). Parallelogram Area Calculator [Online calculator]. TG we-Calculate. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/parallelogram-area-calculator
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. "Parallelogram Area Calculator." TG we-Calculate. 2026. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/parallelogram-area-calculator.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team, "Parallelogram Area Calculator," TG we-Calculate, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://we-calculate.com/calculator/parallelogram-area-calculator
@misc{wecalculate_parallelogram_area_calculator, title = {Parallelogram Area Calculator}, author = {{TG we-Calculate Editorial Team}}, howpublished = {\url{https://we-calculate.com/calculator/parallelogram-area-calculator}}, year = {2026}, note = {TG we-Calculate} }
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