Solution 1
Let $BC = a, ED = 1 - a$
Let $\angle DAC = X$
Applying cosine rule to $\triangle DAC$ we get:
$\cos X = \frac{AC ^ {2} + AD ^ {2} - DC ^ {2}}{ 2 \cdot AC \cdot AD }$
Substituting $AC^{2} = 1^{2} + a^{2}, AD ^ {2} = 1^{2} + (1-a)^{2}, DC = 1$ we get:
$\cos^{2} X = \frac{(1 - a - a ^ {2}) ^ {2}}{(1 + a^{2})(2 - 2a + a^{2})}$
From above, $\sin^{2} X = 1 - \cos^{2} X = \frac{1}{(1 + a^{2})(2 - 2a + a^{2})} = \frac{1}{AC^{2} \cdot AD^{2}}$
Thus, $\sin X \cdot AC \cdot AD = 1$
So, area of $\triangle DAC$ = $\frac{1}{2}\cdot \sin X \cdot AC \cdot AD = \frac{1}{2}$
Let $AF$ be the altitude of $\triangle DAC$ from $A$ .
So $\frac{1}{2}\cdot DC\cdot AF = \frac{1}{2}$
This implies $AF = 1$ .
Since $AFCB$ is a cyclic quadrilateral with $AB = AF$ , $\triangle ABC$ is congruent to $\triangle AFC$ .
Similarly $AEDF$ is a cyclic quadrilateral and $\triangle AED$ is congruent to $\triangle AFD$ .
So area of $\triangle ABC$ + area of $\triangle AED$ = area of $\triangle ADC$ .
Thus area of pentagon $ABCD$ = area of $\triangle ABC$ + area of $\triangle AED$ + area of $\triangle DAC$ = $\frac{1}{2}+\frac{1}{2} = 1$

By $Kris17$
Solution 2
Let $BC = x, DE = y$ . Denote the area of $\triangle XYZ$ by $[XYZ]$ .
$[ABC]+[AED]=\frac{1}{2}(x+y)=\frac{1}{2}$
$[ACD]$ can be found by Heron's formula .
$AC=\sqrt{x^2+1}$
$AD=\sqrt{y^2+1}$
Let $AC=b, AD=c$ .
$$\begin{align*} [ACD]&=\frac{1}{4}\sqrt{(1+b+c)(-1+b+c)(1-b+c)(1+b-c)}\\ &=\frac{1}{4}\sqrt{((b+c)^2-1)(1-(b-c)^2)}\\ &=\frac{1}{4}\sqrt{(b+c)^2+(b-c)^2-(b^2-c^2)^2-1}\\ &=\frac{1}{4}\sqrt{2(b^2+c^2)-(b^2-c^2)^2-1}\\ &=\frac{1}{4}\sqrt{2(x^2+y^2+2)-(x^2-y^2)^2-1}\\ &=\frac{1}{4}\sqrt{2((x+y)^2-2xy+2)-(x+y)^2(x-y)^2-1}\\ &=\frac{1}{4}\sqrt{5-4xy-(x-y)^2}\\ &=\frac{1}{4}\sqrt{5-(x+y)^2}\\ &=\frac{1}{2} \end{align*}$$
Total area $=[ABC]+[AED]+[ACD]=\frac{1}{2}+\frac{1}{2}=1$ .
By durianice
Solution 3
Construct $AD$ and $AC$ to partition the figure into $ABC$ , $ACD$ and $ADE$ .
Rotate $ADE$ with centre $A$ such that $AE$ coincides with $AB$ and $AD$ is mapped to $AD'$ . Hence the area of the pentagon is still preserved and it suffices to find the area of the quadrilateral $AD'CD$ .
Hence $[AD'C]$ = $\frac{1}{2}$ ( $D'E + BC$ ) $AB$ = $\frac{1}{2}$
Since $CD$ = $CD'$ , $AC$ = $AC$ and $AD$ = $AD'$ , by SSS Congruence, $ACD$ and $ACD'$ are congruent, so $[ACD]$ = $\frac{1}{2}$
So the area of pentagon $ABCDE = \frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{2} = 1$ .
- SomebodyYouUsedToKnow