SOLUTION: find the altitude of an equilateral triangle if a side is 6 mm long

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Question 739049: find the altitude of an equilateral triangle if a side is 6 mm long

Answer by MathLover1(20849)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
In an equilateral triangle all sides are equal in length and angles are degrees each

the altitude the top angle and forms two equal right triangles within the original triangle
This means that you can use the fact that the of an angle is defined as the opposite side divided by the hypotenuse where the opposite side is the altitude and the hypotenuse is the known side


and
Therefore:



or, you can use Pythagorean theorem using right triangle formed by altitude (one leg), half of the side (other leg) and side (hypotenuse):







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