Question

How do you find the area of a triangle with sides 8, 15, and 17?

Answer 1

Find area of triangle ABC

Explanation:

Use the trig identity: a^2 = b^2 + c^2 - 2bc cos A

`17^2 = 8^2 + 15^2 - 2(8)(15).cos A`

Because: 17^2 = 289 = 64 + 225 = 289, therefor, the triangle is a right triangle with A = 90 deg.

The triangle area : `s = (8(15))/2 = 60`