We will solve this using Heron's Formula for the area of a triangle.
[tex]\text {Formula = } \sqrt{p(p-a)(p-b)(p-c)} , \text { where p is half the perimeter}[/tex]
We will start off by find p:
[tex]\text {p = } \dfrac{9+7+8}{2} = \dfrac{24}{2}= 12 [/tex]
Now we know, p = 12, we plug in a = 9, b = 8 and c = 7 into the formula to find the area:
[tex]\text {area = } \sqrt{12(12-9)(12-8)(12-7)}[/tex]
[tex]\text {area = } \sqrt{12(3)(4)(5)}[/tex]
[tex]\text {area = } 26.83 \text{ units}^2[/tex]