SOLUTION: Help! What is the perimeter of the triangle whose sides are: 4, sqrt.of 5 - sqrt.of 3, and sqrt.of 5 + sqrt. of 3?

Algebra ->  Radicals -> SOLUTION: Help! What is the perimeter of the triangle whose sides are: 4, sqrt.of 5 - sqrt.of 3, and sqrt.of 5 + sqrt. of 3?       Log On


   

Question 85294: Help!
What is the perimeter of the triangle whose sides are:
4, sqrt.of 5 - sqrt.of 3, and sqrt.of 5 + sqrt. of 3?
Answer by bucky(2189) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
The perimeter of a triangle is found by adding the three sides. In this case it would be:
.
4+%2B+%28sqrt%285%29+-+sqrt%283%29%29+%2B+%28sqrt%285%29+%2B+sqrt%283%29%29
.
Notice that the two terms involving sqrt%283%29 have opposite signs. Therefore, they cancel
each other out and the problem reduces to:
.
4+%2B+sqrt%285%29+%2B+sqrt%285%29
.
And the two radicals add together to give:
.
4+%2B+2%2Asqrt%285%29
.
and that is the perimeter.
.
Hope this helps you to understand the problem a little better.