The sides of a triangle are in a ratio of 3:5:6. If the perimeter is 98, what is the length of the SHORTEST side?

Question

The sides of a triangle are in a ratio of 3:5:6. If the perimeter is 98, what is the length of the SHORTEST side?

 

Thank you in advance! This question fumbled me a bit!

Answer 1

You can just make the sides of the triangle 3x, 5x, and 6x, where x is the scaling factor that will bring the total up to 98.

 

Then, simply add and solve for x:

 

3x+5x+6x=98

14x=98

x=7

 

Your shortest side is the 3x, so its length would be 3*7 or 21.