What is the formula for the area of a rectangle?

The formula for the area of a rectangle is derived from understanding how area is calculated based on the dimensions of the shape. The area represents the amount of space contained within the rectangle and is given by the product of its two sides—length and width. Therefore, the correct formula is expressed as A = length × width.

In this formula, multiplying the length by the width effectively finds how many unit squares can fit inside the rectangle, since the length represents one dimension and the width represents the other. This straightforward multiplication leads to the total area measurement.

The other options suggest different arithmetic operations that do not accurately represent the method for finding area. For instance, adding the length and width would not provide an area but rather give a linear measurement. Doubling the sum of length and width finds the perimeter of the rectangle, not the area, and subtracting width from length is irrelevant to area calculation. Thus, using multiplication of the two dimensions is the correct approach to determine the area of a rectangle.