High School Math : How to find the length of the side of of an acute / obtuse isosceles triangle

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for High School Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #171 : Triangles

A triangle has a perimeter of  inches with one side of length  inches. If the remaining two sides have lengths in a ratio of , what is length of the shortest side of the triangle?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The answer is .

Since we know that the permieter is  inches and one side is  inches, it can be determined that the remaining two sides must combine to be  inches. The ratio of the remaining two sides is  which means 3 parts : 4 parts or 7 parts combined. We can then set up the equation , and divide both sides by  which means . The ratio of the remaining side lengths then becomes  or . We now know the 3 side lengths are .

 is the shortest side and thus the answer.

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