Equilateral Triangles

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What is the height of an equilateral triangle with side 6?

$3\sqrt{3}$

$6\sqrt{2}$

Explanation

When you draw the height in an equilateral triangle, it makes two 30-60-90 triangles. Because of that relationship, the height (which is across from the $60^{\circ}$ ) is $3\sqrt{3}$ .

Triangle A: A right triangle with sides length , , and .

Triangle B: An equilateral triangle with side lengths .

Which triangle has a greater area?

Triangle B

Triangle A

The areas of the two triangles are the same.

There is not enough information given to determine which triangle has a greater area.

Explanation

The formula for the area of a right triangle is $A = \frac{1}{2}bh$ , where is the length of the triangle's base and is its height. Since the longest side is the hypotenuse, use the two smaller numbers given as sides for the base and height in the equation to calculate the area of Triangle A:

$A = \frac{1}{2}(6)(8)$

The formula for the area of an equilateral triangle is $A = \frac{s^2\sqrt{3}}{4}$ , where is the length of each side. (Alternatively, you can divide the equilateral triangle into two right triangles and find the area of each). Triangle B's area is thus calculated as:

$A = \frac{(8)^2\sqrt{3}}{4}$

$A = \frac{64\sqrt{3}}{4}$

$A = 16\sqrt{3}$

To determine which of the two areas is greater without using a calculator, rewrite the areas of the two triangles with comparable factors. Triangle A's area can be expressed as $24= 8\sqrt{3}\sqrt{3}$ , and Triangle B's area can be expressed as $16\sqrt{3}= (8)(2)\sqrt{3}$ . Since is greater than $\sqrt{3}$ , the product of the factors of Triangle B's area will be greater than the product of the factors of Triangle A's, so Triangle B has the greater area.

$\Delta ABC$ and $\Delta DEF$ are right triangles, with right angles $\angle B , \angle E$ , respectively.

Which is the greater quantity?

(a) The perimeter of $\Delta ABC$

(b) The perimeter of $\Delta DEF$

It is impossible to tell from the information given.

(a) and (b) are equal.

(a) is greater.

(b) is greater.

Explanation

No information is given about the legs of either triangle; therefore, no information about their perimeters can be deduced.

Trapezoid

Figure NOT drawn to scale.

In the above figure, $\overline{XY}$ is the midsegment of isosceles Trapezoid . Also, $TX = \frac{1}{2} XY$ .

What is the perimeter of Trapezoid ?

Explanation

The length of the midsegment of a trapezoid is half sum of the lengths of the bases, so

$XY = \frac{1}{2} (12 + 40) = \frac{1}{2} \cdot 52 = 26$ .

Also, by definition, since Trapezoid is isosceles, . The midsegment divides both legs of Trapezoid into congruent segments; combining these facts:

$TX = XP = \frac{1}{2} TP = \frac{1}{2} RA = RY = YA$

$TX = \frac{1}{2} XY = \frac{1}{2} \cdot 26 = 13$ .

, so the perimeter of Trapezoid is

Which quantity is greater?

(a) The perimeter of a square with area 10,000 square centimeters

(b) The perimeter of a rectangle with area 8,000 square centimeters

It is impossible to tell from the information given

(a) and (b) are equal

(b) is greater

(a) is greater

Explanation

A square with area 10,000 square centimeters has sidelength $\sqrt{10,000} = 100$ centimeters, and perimeter $4 \times 100 = 400$ centimeters.

Not enough information is given about the rectangle with area 8,000 square centimeters to determine its perimeter. For example, if its dimensions are 100 centimeters by 80 centimeters, its perimeter is centimeters. If the dimensions are 200 centimeters by 40 centimeters, its perimeter is centimeters. Both cases are consistent with the conditions of the problem, yet one makes (a) greater and one makes (b) greater.

The area of a rectangle is 4,480 square inches. Its width is 70% of its length.

What is its perimeter?

$272 \textrm{ in}$

$224\textrm{ in}$

$284\textrm{ in}$

$302\textrm{ in}$

It is impossible to determine the area from the given information.

Explanation

If the width of the rectangle is 70% of the length, then

The area is the product of the length and width:

$L \cdot 0.70 L = 4,480$

$0.70 L ^{2}= 4,480$

$0.70 L ^{2} \div 0.70 = 4,480\div 0.70$

$L ^{2} = 6,400$

$L = \sqrt{6,400} = 80$

$W = 0.70 L = 0.70 \cdot 80 = 56$

The perimeter is therefore

$P = 2L + 2W = 2 \cdot 80 + 2 \cdot 56 = 160 + 112 = 272$ inches.

A rectangle is two feet longer than it is wide; its perimeter is 11 feet. What is its area in square inches?

$945 \textrm{ in}^{2}$

$513 \textrm{ in}^{2}$

$4,212 \textrm{ in}^{2}$

$3,780 \textrm{ in}^{2}$

It is impossible to determine the area from the information given

Explanation

The length of the rectangle is 2 feet, or 24 inches, greater than the width, so, if is the width in inches, is the length in inches.

The perimeter of the rectangle is 11 feet, or $11 \times 12= 132$ inches. The perimeter, in terms of length and width, is , so we can set up the equation: