Triangle A has sides of lengths #36 ,24 #, and #18 #. Triangle B is similar to triangle A and has a side of length #5 #. What are the possible lengths of the other two sides of triangle B?

1 Answer
EZ as pi
May 3, 2016

There are 3 different triangle possible because we do not know which side of the smaller triangle is equal to 5.

Explanation:

In similar figures. the sides are in the same ratio. However in this case, we are not told which side of the smaller triangle has a length of 5. There are therefore 3 possibilities.

#36/5 = 24/(3 1/3) = 18/2.5# [Each side is divided by 7.2]

#36/7.5 = 24/5 = 18/3.7.5# [Each side is divided by 4.8]

#36/10 = 24/(6 2/3) = 18/5# [Each side is divided by 3.6]

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