What is the first thing you have to do before you can start calculating the area of a composite figure

Answer:
Divide the figure into smaller, known, and solvable figures
Step-by-step explanation:
A composite figure is a figure that is composed of multiple shapes, such as circles, polygons, triangles, etc. The area of the smaller figures that the overall figure is made up of can be solved using known equation, such as a the rectangle of a rectangle can be found by multiplying the length by the width of the rectangle. The overall composite figure lacks a general equation that can be used to find the overall area of the figure, so it needs to first be divided into shapes of solvable areas, such as circles and polygons, each of which have an area that can be solved for easily. The areas of each of these can then be added together to find the area of the overall composite figure.