John Molokach suggested a modification based on the following diagram: From the similarity of triangles, a/b = (b + c)/d, so that d = b(b + c)/a. The quadrilateral on the left is a kite with sides b and d and area 2bd/2 = bd. Adding to this the area of the small triangle (ab/2) we obtain the area of the big triangle - (b + c)d/2: