1. **State the problem:** We are given the area of a parallelogram as 36 in² and the height as 9 in. We need to find the length of the base. 2. **Formula for the area of a parallelogram:** $$\text{Area} = \text{base} \times \text{height}$$ 3. **Substitute the known values:** $$36 = \text{base} \times 9$$ 4. **Solve for the base:** $$\text{base} = \frac{36}{9}$$ 5. **Simplify the fraction:** $$\text{base} = \frac{\cancel{36}}{\cancel{9}} = 4$$ 6. **Answer:** The length of the base is 4 inches.