Example Grace is making a model of a building that is shaped like a parallelogram The dimensions of the parallelogram in her model are shown What is the area of the parallelogram in Grace s model The segment labeled 4 in is perpendicular to the side labeled 18 in So the base of the parallelogram is 18 in and the height is 4 in You can use the formula for the area of a parallelogram A b h A 18 4 72 10 7 in The area of the parallelogram in Grace s model is 72 in 4 in 18 in Look at the parallelogram in the Example Describe a way to decompose the octangle