ACT Math : Equilateral Triangles

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ACT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Perimeter Of An Equilateral Triangle

What is the perimeter of an equilateral triangle with an area of \displaystyle 56.25\sqrt{3}?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 15

\displaystyle 22\sqrt{3}

\displaystyle 45

\displaystyle 45\sqrt{3}

\displaystyle 50\sqrt{3}

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 45

Explanation:

Recall that from any vertex of an equilateral triangle, you can drop a height that is a bisector of that vertex as well as a bisector of the correlative side. This gives you the following figure:

Equigen

Notice that the small triangles within the larger triangle are both \displaystyle 30-60-90 triangles. Therefore, you can create a ratio to help you find \displaystyle h.

The ratio of the small base to the height is the same as \displaystyle 1:\sqrt{3}.  Therefore, you can write the following equation:

\displaystyle \frac{0.5b}{h}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}

This means that \displaystyle 0.5b\sqrt{3}=h.

Now, the area of a triangle can be written:

\displaystyle A=\frac{1}{2}bh, and based on our data, we can replace \displaystyle h with \displaystyle \frac{b\sqrt{3}}{2}.  This gives you:

\displaystyle 56.25\sqrt{3}=\frac{1}{2}*b*\frac{b\sqrt{3}}{2}=\frac{b^2\sqrt{3}}{4}

Now, let's write that a bit more simply:

\displaystyle 56.25\sqrt{3}=\frac{b^2\sqrt{3}}{4}

Solve for \displaystyle b. Begin by multiplying each side by \displaystyle 4:

\displaystyle 225\sqrt{3}=b^2\sqrt{3}

Divide each side by \displaystyle \sqrt3:

\displaystyle b^2 = 225

Finally, take the square root of both sides. This gives you \displaystyle b=15. Therefore, the perimeter is \displaystyle 15*3 = 45.

Example Question #2 : Equilateral Triangles

An equilateral triangle with a perimeter of \displaystyle 48 cm has sides with what length?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 12cm

\displaystyle 8 cm

\displaystyle 16 cm

\displaystyle 24 cm

\displaystyle 48 cm

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 16 cm

Explanation:

An equilateral triangle has 3 equal length sides.

Therefore the perimeter equation is as follows,

\displaystyle P=3s.

So divide the perimeter by 3 to find the length of each side.

Thus the answer is:

\displaystyle 48=3s

\displaystyle \frac{48}{3}=s

\displaystyle 16 cm

Example Question #2 : Equilateral Triangles

Jill has an equilateral triangular garden with a base of \displaystyle 5x-1 and one leg with a length of \displaystyle 3x+13, what is the perimeter? 

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 34

\displaystyle 68

\displaystyle 578

\displaystyle 7

\displaystyle 102

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 102

Explanation:

Since the triangle is equilateral, the base and the legs are equal, so the first step is to set the two equations equal to each other. Start with \displaystyle 5x-1=3x+13, add \displaystyle 1 to both sides giving you \displaystyle 5x=3x+14. Subtract \displaystyle 3x from both sides, leaving \displaystyle 2x=14. Finally divide both sides by \displaystyle 2, so you're left with \displaystyle x=7. Plug \displaystyle 7 back in for \displaystyle x  into either of the equations so that you get a side length of \displaystyle 34. To find the perimeter, multiply the side length \displaystyle \left ( 34\right ), by \displaystyle 3, giving you \displaystyle 102.

Example Question #1 : Equilateral Triangles

Find the perimeter of an equilateral triangle whose side length is \displaystyle 2.1

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 6.3

\displaystyle 3.6

\displaystyle 4.2

\displaystyle 8.4

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 6.3

Explanation:

To find perimeter of an quilateral triangle, simply multiply the side length by \displaystyle 3. Thus,

\displaystyle P=s\cdot3=2.1\cdot3=6.3

Example Question #2 : Equilateral Triangles

Find the perimeter of an equilateral triangle whose side length is \displaystyle 4.

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 12

\displaystyle 64

\displaystyle 81

\displaystyle 16

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 12

Explanation:

To solve, simply multiply the side length by \displaystyle 3. Thus,

\displaystyle P=3s=3*4=12

Example Question #2 : How To Find The Perimeter Of An Equilateral Triangle

Find the perimeter of an equilateral triangle given side length of 2.

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 2

\displaystyle 4

\displaystyle 6

\displaystyle 16

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 6

Explanation:

To solve, simply multiply the side length by 3 since they are all equal. Thus,

\displaystyle P=3*s=3*2=6

Example Question #1 : Equilateral Triangles

What is the height of an equilateral triangle with a side length of 8 in?

Possible Answers:

6\sqrt{3}\displaystyle 6\sqrt{3}

4\sqrt{3}\displaystyle 4\sqrt{3}

6\sqrt{2}\displaystyle 6\sqrt{2}

\displaystyle 8

4\sqrt{2}\displaystyle 4\sqrt{2}

Correct answer:

4\sqrt{3}\displaystyle 4\sqrt{3}

Explanation:

An equilateral triangle has three congruent sides, and is also an equiangular triangle with three congruent angles that each meansure 60 degrees.

To find the height we divide the triangle into two special 30 - 60 - 90 right triangles by drawing a line from one corner to the center of the opposite side. This segment will be the height, and will be opposite from one of the 60 degree angles and adjacent to a 30 degree angle. The special right triangle gives side ratios of \displaystyle x, \displaystyle x\sqrt{3}, and \displaystyle 2x. The hypoteneuse, the side opposite the 90 degree angle, is the full length of one side of the triangle and is equal to \displaystyle 2x. Using this information, we can find the lengths of each side fo the special triangle.

\displaystyle 8=2x\rightarrow 4=x\rightarrow 4\sqrt{3}=x\sqrt{3}

The side with length \displaystyle x\sqrt{3} will be the height (opposite the 60 degree angle). The height is \displaystyle 4\sqrt{3} inches.

Example Question #1 : Equilateral Triangles

Find the height of a triangle if all sides have a length of \displaystyle 2\:cm.

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle \sqrt{3}\:cm

\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}\:cm

\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}\:cm

\displaystyle \sqrt{2}\:cm

\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}\:cm

Correct answer:

\displaystyle \sqrt{3}\:cm

Explanation:

Draw a vertical line from the vertex. This will divide the equilateral triangle into two congruent right triangles. For the hypothenuse of one right triangle, the length will be \displaystyle 2\:cm. The base will have a dimension of \displaystyle 1\:cm.  Use the Pythagorean Theorem to solve for the height, substituting in \displaystyle 2 for \displaystyle c, the length of the hypotenuse, and \displaystyle 1 for either \displaystyle a or \displaystyle b, the length of the legs of the triangle:

\displaystyle a^2+b^2=c^2

\displaystyle 1^2+b^2=2^2

\displaystyle b^2=2^2-1^2

\displaystyle b^2 = 3

\displaystyle b=\sqrt3

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Height Of An Equilateral Triangle

What is the height of an equilateral triangle with sides of length \displaystyle 12?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 4\sqrt{2}

\displaystyle 6\sqrt{2}

\displaystyle 6

\displaystyle 6\sqrt{3}

\displaystyle 12

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 6\sqrt{3}

Explanation:

Recall that from any vertex of an equilateral triangle, you can drop a height that is a bisector of that vertex as well as a bisector of the correlative side. This gives you the following figure:

Equi12

Notice that the small triangles within the larger triangle are both \displaystyle 30-60-90 triangles. Therefore, you can create a ratio to help you find \displaystyle h.

The ratio of \displaystyle 6 to \displaystyle h is the same as the ratio of \displaystyle 1 to \displaystyle \sqrt{3}.

As an equation, this is written:

\displaystyle \frac{6}{h}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}

Solving for \displaystyle h, we get: \displaystyle h=6\sqrt{3}

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Height Of An Equilateral Triangle

The Triangle Perpendicular Bisector Theorem states that the perpendicular bisector of an equilateral triangle is also the triangle's height.

\displaystyle \Delta ABC is an equilateral triangle with side length \displaystyle 8 inches. What is the height of  \displaystyle \Delta ABC?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 8\sqrt{2}

\displaystyle 8

\displaystyle 4\sqrt{3}

\displaystyle 4

\displaystyle 3\sqrt6

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 4\sqrt{3}

Explanation:

To calculate the height of an equilateral triangle, first draw a perpendicular bisector for the triangle. By definition, this splits the opposite side from the vertex of the bisector in two, resulting in two line segments of length \displaystyle 4 inches. Since it is perpendicular, we also know the angle of intersection is \displaystyle 90^{\circ}

So, we have a new right triangle with two side lenghts \displaystyle 8 and \displaystyle 4 for the hypotenuse and short leg, respectively. The Pythagorean theorem takes over from here:

\displaystyle 8^2 - 4^2 = x^2 ---> \displaystyle x^2 = 48 = 4\sqrt{3}

So, the height of our triangle is \displaystyle 4\sqrt{3}.

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