Question

how can we use these two shapes to find the amount of outdoor carpet we need for this hole? i am not sure. subtract the area of the triangle from the area of the rectangle. add the area of the triangle and the area of the rectangle. divide the area of the rectangle by the area of the triangle.

Explanation:

The hole's shape is a rectangle with a triangular part removed (the white triangle). To find the area of the carpet needed (the green part), we calculate the area of the rectangle (the whole shape) and then subtract the area of the triangle (the missing part). Adding would be incorrect as the triangle is not an additional area to cover, and dividing is not relevant here.

Answer:

Subtract the area of the triangle from the area of the rectangle.