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| Question 1207270:  Find the perimeter of an equilateral triangle whose area is equal to that of a triangle with sides 21 cm, 16 cm and 13 cm.
 Answer by math_tutor2020(3817)
      (Show Source): 
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Triangle A = equilateral triangle
 Triangle B = triangle with sides 21, 16, and 13.
 
 Let's apply Heron's Formula to find the area of triangle B.
 (a,b,c) = (21,16,13)
 s = semi-perimeter = half the perimeter
 s = (a+b+c)/2
 s = (21+16+13)/2
 s = 25
 area = sqrt(s*(s-a)*(s-b)*(s-c))
 area = sqrt(25*(25-21)*(25-16)*(25-13))
 area = sqrt(25*4*9*12)
 area = sqrt(10800)
 area = 103.9230485 square cm approximately
 
 Now we use the area of an equilateral triangle formula so we can find the side length of triangle A.
 
 x = side length
 area = 0.25*sqrt(3)*x^2
 sqrt(10800) = 0.25*sqrt(3)*x^2
 x^2 = 4*sqrt(10800)/sqrt(3)
 x^2 = 240
 x = sqrt(240)
 x = sqrt(16*15)
 x = sqrt(16)*sqrt(15)
 x = 4*sqrt(15)
 
 Each side of triangle A is exactly 4*sqrt(15) cm long.
 Triple this to get the perimeter of the equilateral triangle.
 3*4*sqrt(15) = 12*sqrt(15) cm
 
 12*sqrt(15) = 46.4758002 approximately
 
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