Equilateral triangle terms of side length "a" can be derived directly using the Pythagorean theorem or using trigonometry. The area of a triangle is half of one side "a" times the height "h" from that side: The legs of either right triangle formed by an altitude of the equilateral triangle are half of the base "a", and the hypotenuse is the side "a" of the equilateral triangle. The height of an equilateral triangle can be found using the Pythagorean theorem so that Substituting "h" into the area formula (1/2)"ah" gives the area formula for the equilateral triangle: Using trigonometry, the area of
Altitude (triangle) (not extended). In an obtuse triangle (one with an obtuse angle), the foot of the altitude to the obtuse-angled vertex falls in the interior of the opposite side, but the feet of the altitudes to the acute-angled vertices fall on the opposite extended side, exterior to the triangle. This is illustrated in the adjacent diagram: in this obtuse triangle, an altitude dropped perpendicularly from the top vertex, which has an acute angle, intersects the extended horizontal side outside the triangle. The three (possibly extended) altitudes intersect in a single point, called the orthocenter of the triangle, usually denoted by .