Consider the triangle below, where the vertex angle measures \(\theta\), the
equal sides measure \(a\), the height is \(h\), and half the base is \(b\). (In an
isosceles triangle, the perpendicular dropped from the vertex angle divides
the triangle into two congruent triangles.) The two triangles formed are right
triangles.
In the right triangles, \(\sin \left(\frac{\theta}{2}\right)=\frac{b}{a}\) and
\(\cos \left(\frac{\theta}{2}\right)=\frac{h}{a}\). Multiply each side of each
equation by \(a\) to get \(b=a \sin \left(\frac{\theta}{2}\right), h=a \cos
\left(\frac{\theta}{2}\right)\). The area of the entire isosceles triangle is
\(A=\frac{1}{2}(2 b) h=b h\). Substitute the values for \(b\) and \(h\) into the
area formula. Show that the area is equivalent to \(\frac{a^{2}}{2} \sin
\theta\).