The sum of the lengths of any two sides of a triangle must be greater than the third side. If a triangle has one side that is 18cm and a second side that is 3cm less than twice the third side, what are the possible lengths for the second and third sides?
The three sides are:
First side = 18
Third side = x
Second side = 2x - 3
First side + Second side > Third Side, therefore 18 + (2x - 3) > x
First side + Third side > Second Side, therefore 18 + x > 2x - 3
Second side + Third side > Second Side, therefore (2x - 3) + x > 18
So we have:
Simplifying:
Simplifying further:
Simplifying further:
Simplifying further:
We can eliminate the first inequality, since the third one guarantees it
because if x is greater than 7 it is CERTAILY greater than =15.
Those two inequalities can be combined as
or if we prefer:
, which is the same thing.
So the third side, x, is greater than 7 but less than 21.
Since the Second side is 2x - 3, we must build 2x - 3
from the x which is in the middle of .
To make the x into a 2x, we multiply all three sides of
by 2, getting
,
To make the 2x into a 2x - 3, we subtract 3 from all three sides of the above:
Simplifying
So
So the Second side, 2x - 3, is greater than 11 but less than 39.
Edwin