What must the longest side measure of a triangle be if the shorter sides are 15 and 8? How many degrees are in a triangle? Look it up if you need to.

Question

2 answers

Answer 1

One important rule is:

   The sum of the lengths of any two sides must be more than the length of the third side.

 

Considering that rule, the longest side of a triangle that has shorter sides of length 15 and 8 is:

     15 < (length of longest side) < 23             [that is, greater than 15, but less than (15+8)]

 

Now, if the third side is the hypotenuse (which is always the longest side of a right triangle) of a right triangle, then the Pythagorean Theorem applies:

     c² = a² + b²

     c² = 15² + 8²

     c² = 289

 

     c  = √289

     c = 17

 

The sum of the three angles of a triangle is always 180°.

 

Answer 2

Hi No yo,

According to the Triangle Inequality Theorem, the sum of the two sides must be greater than the other side so if we let the length of the side be x, we can write

x < 15 + 8

x < 23

The longest side could be 22.9 (to the nearest tenth) units maximum.

 

The sum of the angles in a triangle is 180 degrees.