The perimeter of a triangle is 55 inches. The longest side is 12 inches longer than the medium side and the medium side is 5 inches more than the shortest side. Find the lengths of each side.

Answer 1

Before you can solve this problem, you need to know what the perimeter is and how it is calculated. If you need to look up the perimeter equation, do that. Then you have to figure out the algebra representation of each side of the triangle. Since you don't know anything about the shortest side, this is a good one to choose as the variable. Then, you can use that to write the expression for the medium side (since it is compared to the shortest side). What does "5 inches more than" mean in math? Finally, you can use the expression for the medium side to write the expression for the longer side (since the longer side is compared to the medium side). What does "12 inches longer than" mean in math? Once you have all three expressions for the sides, use the perimeter to complete the problem. I won't tell you the answer, but the longer side is 28. I hope this helps!