SOLUTION: need a little help please. Pair of similar triangles find the value of x....triangle 1 - Z to X is 14, X to Y is unknown, Y to Z has x btwn them..triangle 2 - F to H is 12, H to G

Algebra ->  Expressions-with-variables -> SOLUTION: need a little help please. Pair of similar triangles find the value of x....triangle 1 - Z to X is 14, X to Y is unknown, Y to Z has x btwn them..triangle 2 - F to H is 12, H to G       Log On


   

Question 662390: need a little help please. Pair of similar triangles find the value of x....triangle 1 - Z to X is 14, X to Y is unknown, Y to Z has x btwn them..triangle 2 - F to H is 12, H to G is 9, G to F is unknown. Any help would be much appreciated. thank you
Answer by KMST(5328) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
With similar triangles, you need to know which side of one triangle corresponds to each side in the other triangle.
That is not clear in your problem, but I will make my best guess.

One way to indicate which pairs of sides are corresponding sides is naming the similar triangles by listing corresponding sides in the same order.
Saying that triangle XYZ is similar to triangle FGH implies that
side XY corresponds to side FG,
side YZ corresponds to side GH,
and side ZX corresponds to side HF.

If triangle XYZ is similar to triangle FGH, the ratios of the lengths of corresponding sides are the same, so
XY+%2F+FG=YZ+%2FGH=ZX%2FHF
It appears to be that
ZX=14 , YZ=x, HF=12 , and GH=9 .
Substituting those values into
YZ+%2FGH=ZX%2FHF we get
x+%2F9=14%2F12 --> x=9%2A14%2F12 --> highlight%28x=21%2F2%29