A triangle has corners at #(2 , 6 )#, #(4 ,7 )#, and #(1 ,5 )#. What is the radius of the triangle's inscribed circle?

1 Answer
May 10, 2017

Simple. Find the centroid of the triangle and Measure the perpendicular distance from this point to any of the sides.

Explanation:

The centroid of the triangle can be found by the centroid formula:

# x, y #= #(x_1+x_2+x_3)/3 , (y_1+y_2+y_3)/3#

On plugging values, we get:

#x=7/3#

#y=6#

equation of any one line can be found using the formula:

#y# - #y_1# = m(#x# - #x_1#)

Where #m#=(#y_2# - #y_1#)/(#x_2# - #x_1#)

On plugging in values, we get:

#y - 6 = (x - 2)/2#

#2y - 12 = x - 2#

#x - 2y - 10 = 0#

The formula for perpendicular distance from a point to a line is:

#d=|Ax + By + C|/sqrt(A^2 + B^2#

On plugging values, we get:

#d = |7/3 - 10 - 10|/sqrt5#

#d = 7.9 cm#

The radius of the circle is #7.9 cm#