How to find if trapezoids are similar

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ACT Math › How to find if trapezoids are similar

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Trapezoid A and Trapezoid B are similar. The bases of Trapezoid A are and . Trapezoid B has a smaller base of . How long is the larger base of Trapezoid B?

Explanation

Because the two trapezoids are similar, the ratio of their bases must be the same. Therefore, we must set up a cross-multiplication to solve for the missing base:

$\small \frac{6}{x}=\frac{9}{12}$ , using $\small x$ as the variable for the missing base.