1. **State the problem:** We need to find the area of a right triangle with one leg measuring 5.5 ft and the hypotenuse measuring 26 ft. 2. **Recall the formula for the area of a triangle:** $$\text{Area} = \frac{1}{2} \times \text{base} \times \text{height}$$ 3. **Identify the base and height:** We know one leg (5.5 ft) and the hypotenuse (26 ft). The other leg (height) is unknown. 4. **Use the Pythagorean theorem to find the missing leg:** $$a^2 + b^2 = c^2$$ Let the unknown leg be $h$, then: $$5.5^2 + h^2 = 26^2$$ 5. **Calculate:** $$30.25 + h^2 = 676$$ 6. **Isolate $h^2$:** $$h^2 = 676 - 30.25$$ $$h^2 = 645.75$$ 7. **Find $h$ by taking the square root:** $$h = \sqrt{645.75} \approx 25.41$$ 8. **Calculate the area:** $$\text{Area} = \frac{1}{2} \times 5.5 \times 25.41$$ 9. **Multiply:** $$\text{Area} = \frac{1}{2} \times 139.755 = 69.8775$$ 10. **Final answer:** The area of the triangle is approximately **69.88 square feet**.