Welcome to Westonci.ca, where your questions are met with accurate answers from a community of experts and enthusiasts. Connect with professionals on our platform to receive accurate answers to your questions quickly and efficiently. Join our platform to connect with experts ready to provide precise answers to your questions in different areas.

if an equilateral triangle has an altitude measuring 17 root 3 what is the measure of its sides?

Sagot :

The equilateral triangle has a side length of 34

Here, given the altitude of an equilateral triangle, we want to get the measure of its sides

Let the sides measure be x (all sides are equal)

The altitude divides the base length into two equal parts

So, one part of the base will measure x/2

So we have a right-angled triangle with hypotenuse x , while the two other sides are x/2 and 17 root 3

Using Pythagoras' theorem, we understand that the square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the two other sides

Mathematically, we have this as follows;

[tex]\begin{gathered} x^2\text{ = (17}\sqrt[]{3})^2\text{ + (}\frac{x}{2})^2 \\ \\ x^2\text{ = 867 + }\frac{x^2}{4} \\ \\ \text{Multiply through by 4} \\ \\ 4x^2=3468+x^2 \\ \\ 4x^2-x^2\text{ = 3468} \\ \\ 3x^2\text{ = 3468} \\ \\ x^2\text{ = }\frac{3468}{3} \\ \\ x^2\text{ = 1156} \\ \\ x^2=34^2 \\ \\ x\text{ = 34} \end{gathered}[/tex]