SOLUTION: A plane intersects a prism to form a cross section that is a polygon with five sides. The minimum number of sides that the polygon at the base of the prism must have is

Algebra ->  Customizable Word Problem Solvers  -> Geometry -> SOLUTION: A plane intersects a prism to form a cross section that is a polygon with five sides. The minimum number of sides that the polygon at the base of the prism must have is      Log On

Ad: Over 600 Algebra Word Problems at edhelper.com


   



Question 1152697: A plane intersects a prism to form a cross section that is a polygon with five sides. The minimum number of sides that the polygon at the base of the prism must have is
Answer by MathLover1(20849) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

Since the plane if cutting through the prism to make 5 sides, than the original shape needs to have less than 5.
 A prism, is a 3D shape, so you can't have a 2 sided shape.
Now you have a choice of 3+or 4 sides.
A 3 sides shape is a triangle, which also can't be cut into a 5 sided prism, so the answer would need to be 4.