Home·Geometry

Triangle Area from Two Sides and the Angle

Base times height over two needs a height, which is often the hard thing to measure. With two sides and the angle between them, a sine gives the area directly. The third side comes from the cosine rule.

Your numbers

Area

41.366cm²

Side c

9.282cm

Perimeter

30.282cm

Formula

Area = Side a × Side b × sin Included angle ÷ 2

The angle has to be the one between the two sides. Any other angle breaks the formula.

What to enter

InputDefaultAccepted range
Side a (cm)The length of the first side.90 and up
Side b (cm)The length of the second side.120 and up
Included angle (°)The angle where the two sides meet; another angle breaks the formula.500 ~ 180

Step by step

FormulaArea = Side a × Side b × sin Included angle ÷ 2
With the default numbersArea = 9 × 12 × sin 50 ÷ 2
AnswerArea = 41.366 cm²

Quick reference table

Results when only Side a (cm) changes and everything else stays put.

Side a (cm)Area (cm²)Side c (cm)Perimeter (cm)
4.520.6839.73826.238
6.7531.0259.24327.993
941.3669.28230.282
13.562.0510.86236.362
1882.73313.79543.795

What each result means

ResultAt default values
Area (cm²)The space a shape covers — length squared.41.366
Side c (cm)The third side; it must be shorter than the other two combined.9.282
Perimeter (cm)The total length around the outside of a shape.30.282

Common mistakes

The angle has to be the one between the two sides. Any other angle breaks the formula.

Glossary

Side a
The length of the first side.
Side b
The length of the second side.
Included angle
The angle where the two sides meet; another angle breaks the formula.
Area
The space a shape covers — length squared.
Side c
The third side; it must be shorter than the other two combined.
Perimeter
The total length around the outside of a shape.

Frequently asked questions

Q. How is Triangle Area from Two Sides and the Angle calculated?

Area = Side a × Side b × sin Included angle ÷ 2 — Base times height over two needs a height, which is often the hard thing to measure. With two sides and the angle between them, a sine gives the area directly. The third side comes from the cosine rule.

Q. Can you walk through an example?

With Side a 9cm, Side b 12cm, Included angle 50°, the answer is Area 41.366cm².

Q. What do I need to enter?

Enter Side a, Side b, Included angle. The result recalculates as you type, and an empty box counts as zero.

Q. How much does the answer move if I change a number?

Changing only Side a (cm) moves the answer to Side a (cm) 4.5 → Area (cm²) 20.683 and Side a (cm) 18 → Area (cm²) 82.733. The table below lays out five steps.

Q. How are the numbers rounded?

Money is shown to the nearest whole unit, percentages to one decimal place and everything else to two. What you see is rounded; the calculation itself carries the unrounded value forward.

Q. Anything to watch out for?

The angle has to be the one between the two sides. Any other angle breaks the formula.

Related calculators

Keep your length units consistent across inputs — mixing centimetres and metres throws results far off.