AD = 10, AB = 6, CE = 5, Find AC

Question

There is triangle ABC and it is equal to triangle ADE so traingle ABC just has a trapazoid added onto the bottom of it with points D and E in order to create triangle ADE 

Answer 1

Hi Journey,

 

I believe that triangle ABC is similar to triangle ADE and not congruent (equal is not the right term to use).

Then, we can use the ratio of similar triangles to find AC. Let the length of AC be x. We can write

 

AB       x

----- = -----   AB = 6, AD = 10, CE = 5 

AD      x+5

 

6/10 = x/(x+5)

10x = 6x + 30

4x = 30

x = 7.5 units, which is the length of AC