The total area formed by a triangle with a base of 4 1/4 inches and a height of 10 inches and rectangle that is 10 inches by 4 1/4 inches

So the area of a triangle is 1/2 base times height or 1/2BH=A
so the base is 4 1/4 and the height is 10
so the equation is 1/2 times 4 1/4 times 10
the associative property allows us to find half of the height instead of the base so 1/2HB=1/2 times 10 times 4 1/4 or 10/2 times 4 1/4 or 5 times 4 1/4
this equals 21 1/4 in^2 that is the area

the area of a rectangle can be found by height times width or base
so A=HB
H=10
B=4 1/4
so 10 times 4 1/4=42.5 in^2 which is the area

Could you make it more clear?