The sides of a triangle are given by , and where are positive. What is the area of the triangle equal to?
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Option C
Approach
Recognise the three lengths as a base together with the two slant sides made by an altitude of length that meets the base from one end.
Step-by-step solution
- 1Place , ,
Why: Take the side as the base and look for a point whose distances to its two ends are the other two given lengths.
- 2and
Why: The horizontal offsets from to and to are and , and the vertical offset is in both cases.
- 3So the triangle has base and height .
Why: These are exactly the three given side lengths, so this placement is the triangle described; the foot of the altitude from splits the base into and .
- 4
Shortcut
Two of the sides are hypotenuses sharing a leg ; glue the right triangles and along that leg and the third side is , so the area is the sum .
Common mistakes
Option A
No plausible route reaches , which is not even of the right degree for an area.
Option B
Read the third side as instead of ; with all three sides of that form the triangle is the one cut from the corner of a box, whose area is indeed .
Option D
No plausible route introduces a factor here.
Skills used