Summary

To calculate the area of a parallelogram in Excel, you can use a standard formula with Excel's multiplication operator. In the example shown, the formula in D5, copied down, is:

=B5*C5

which calculates the area of a parallelogram given the base in column B, the height in column C. 

Generic formula

=bh

Explanation 

A parallelogram is a quadrilateral (4-sided) shape with two pairs of parallel sides. The opposite sides of a parallelogram are the same length, and the opposite angles have the same measure. In Euclidean geometry, the area enclosed by a parallelogram is defined by this formula: A=bh, where b stands for base and h stands for height.

In Excel, the same formula can be represented like this:

=b*h

So, for example, to calculate the area of a parallelogram where b is 5, and h is 4, you can use a formula like this:

=5*4 // returns 20

In the example shown, the goal is to calculate the area for eleven parallelograms using the base value in column B and the height value in column C. The formula in D5 is

=B5*C5

Because both cells are entered as relative references, as the formula is copied down the table, it calculates a different area at each new row.

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Dave Bruns

Hi - I'm Dave Bruns, and I run Exceljet with my wife, Lisa. Our goal is to help you work faster in Excel. We create short videos, and clear examples of formulas, functions, pivot tables, conditional formatting, and charts.

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