SOLUTION: One side of an equilateral triangle is 6cm. What is the measure of an altitude of the triangle?

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Question 657301: One side of an equilateral triangle is 6cm. What is the measure of an altitude of the triangle?
Answer by stanbon(75887) About Me  (Show Source):
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One side of an equilateral triangle is 6cm. What is the measure of an altitude of the triangle?
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Draw the triangle.
Draw an altitude from the base to the top vertex.
You have 2 right triangles.
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base = 3
hypotenuse = 6
altitude = "h"
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Use Pythagoras
3^2 + h^2 = 6^2
9 + h^2 = 36
h^2 = 27
h = sqrt(27) = sqrt(9*3) = 3sqrt(3)
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Cheers,
Stan H.