Intermediate Geometry : Plane Geometry

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Intermediate Geometry

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Height Of An Acute / Obtuse Triangle

A triangle has a base of \(\displaystyle 3\) and an area of \(\displaystyle 9\) square units. Find the height of the triangle. 

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 3\)

\(\displaystyle 9\)

\(\displaystyle 6\)

\(\displaystyle 2\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 6\)

Explanation:

To solve this solution, work backwards using the formula: 

\(\displaystyle Area=\frac{b\cdot h}{2}\)

Plugging in the given values we are able to solve for the height.
\(\displaystyle 9=\frac{3h}{2}\)

\(\displaystyle 3h=18\)

\(\displaystyle h=18\div3=6\)

Example Question #2 : How To Find The Height Of An Acute / Obtuse Triangle

An obtuse triangle has a base of \(\displaystyle 30\) and an area of \(\displaystyle 225\) square units. Find the height of the triangle. 

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 17\)

\(\displaystyle 15\)

\(\displaystyle 33\)

\(\displaystyle 30\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 15\)

Explanation:

To solve this solution, work backwards using the formula: 

\(\displaystyle Area=\frac{b\cdot h}{2}\)

Plugging in the given values we are able to solve for the height.

\(\displaystyle 225=\frac{30h}{2}\)

\(\displaystyle 30h=450\)

\(\displaystyle h=\frac{450}{30}=15\)

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Height Of An Acute / Obtuse Triangle

An obtuse triangle has a base of \(\displaystyle 45\) and an area of \(\displaystyle 450\) square units. Find the height of the triangle. 

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 40\)

\(\displaystyle 20\)

\(\displaystyle 25\)

\(\displaystyle 45\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 20\)

Explanation:

To solve this solution, first work backwards using the formula: 

\(\displaystyle Area=\frac{b\cdot h}{2}\)

Plugging in the given values we are able to solve for the height.
\(\displaystyle 450=\frac{45h}{2}\)

\(\displaystyle 900=45h\)

\(\displaystyle h=900\div45=20\)


Example Question #1 : How To Find The Length Of The Side Of An Equilateral Triangle

The area of an equilateral triangle is \(\displaystyle 16\sqrt3\), what is the length of each side?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 16\)

\(\displaystyle 8\)

\(\displaystyle 4\)

\(\displaystyle 12\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 8\)

Explanation:

An equilateral triangle can be broken down into 2 30-60-90 right triangles (see image). The length of a side (the base) is 2x while the length of the height is \(\displaystyle x\sqrt3\). The area of a triangle can be calculated using the following equation:

\(\displaystyle A=\frac{1}{2}bh\)

Therefore, if \(\displaystyle 2x\) equals the length of a side:

\(\displaystyle A=16\sqrt3=\frac{1}{2}bh=\frac{1}{2}(2x)(x\sqrt3)=x^2\sqrt3\)

\(\displaystyle 16\sqrt3=x^2\sqrt3\)

\(\displaystyle 16=x^2\)

\(\displaystyle x=4\)

A length of the side equals 2x:

\(\displaystyle 2(4)=8\)

 

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Example Question #1 : How To Find The Length Of The Side Of An Equilateral Triangle

Asd

What is the area of this triangle if \(\displaystyle a=1\:cm\)?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle \sqrt{3}\:cm^2\)

\(\displaystyle 1\:cm^2\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}\:cm^2\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}\:cm^2\)

\(\displaystyle \sqrt{2}\:cm^2\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}\:cm^2\)

Explanation:

We know the formula for the area of an equilateral triangle is:

\(\displaystyle Area=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}a^2\)

if \(\displaystyle a\) is the side of the triangle.

 

So, since we are told that \(\displaystyle a=1\:cm\), we can substitute in \(\displaystyle 1\) for \(\displaystyle a\) and solve for the area of the triangle:

\(\displaystyle Area=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}1^2=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}1=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}\:cm^2\)

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Length Of The Side Of An Equilateral Triangle

Asd

Find \(\displaystyle a\) if the perimeter of this triangle is \(\displaystyle 18\).

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle a=1\)

\(\displaystyle a=9\)

\(\displaystyle a=3\)

\(\displaystyle a=4\)

\(\displaystyle a=6\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle a=6\)

Explanation:

This triangle is equilateral; we can tell because each of its sides are the same length, \(\displaystyle a\). To find the length of one side, we need to divide the perimeter by \(\displaystyle 3\):

\(\displaystyle a=\frac{18}{3}=6\)

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Length Of The Side Of An Equilateral Triangle

Asd

What is side \(\displaystyle a\) if the perimeter of this triangle is \(\displaystyle \frac{3}{7}\:cm\)?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle a=3\:cm\)

\(\displaystyle a=\frac{1}{7}\:cm\)

\(\displaystyle a=1\:cm\)

\(\displaystyle a=\frac{2}{7}\:cm\)

\(\displaystyle a=7\:cm\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle a=\frac{1}{7}\:cm\)

Explanation:

Since each of this triangle's sides is equal in length, it is equilateral. To find the length of one side of an equilateral triangle, we need to divide the perimeter by \(\displaystyle 3\).

\(\displaystyle a=\frac{\frac{3}{7}}{3}=\frac{1}{7}\:cm\)

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Length Of The Side Of An Equilateral Triangle

Triangle

The height of the triangle is \(\displaystyle 4\) feet.

What is the length of the base of the triangle to the nearest tenth?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 0.2 ft\)

\(\displaystyle 5 ft\)

\(\displaystyle 4.6 ft\)

\(\displaystyle 0.22 ft\)

\(\displaystyle 4.62 ft\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 4.6 ft\)

Explanation:

Since it is an equilateral triangle, the line that represents the height bisects it into a 30-60-90 triangle.

Here you may use \(\displaystyle sin(60)=\frac{4}{hypotenuse}\) and solve for hypotenuse to find one of the sides of the triangle.

Use the definition of an equilateral triangle to know that the answer of the hypotenuse also applies to the base of the triangle.

Therefore,

\(\displaystyle hypotenuse=\frac{4}{sin(60)}=4.6\)

Example Question #1 : Equilateral Triangles

The height of an equilateral triangle is 5. How long are its sides?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle \sqrt{18.75}\)

\(\displaystyle \sqrt{33. \overline3}\)

\(\displaystyle 4\)

\(\displaystyle \sqrt{50}\)

\(\displaystyle 5\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle \sqrt{33. \overline3}\)

Explanation:

The height of an equilateral triangle, shown by the dotted line, is also one of the legs of a right triangle:

Equilateral height

The hypotenuse is x, the length of each side in this equilateral triangle, and then the other leg is half of that, 0.5x. 

To solve for x, use Pythagorean Theorem:

\(\displaystyle (0.5x)^2 + 5^2 = x^2\) square the terms on the left

\(\displaystyle 0.25x^2 + 25 = x^2\) combine like terms by subtracting 0.25 x squared from both sides

\(\displaystyle 25 = 0.75x^2\) divide both sides by 0.75

\(\displaystyle 33. \overline 3 = x^2\) take the square root of both sides

\(\displaystyle \sqrt{ 33. \overline 3 } = x\)

Example Question #7 : How To Find The Length Of The Side Of An Equilateral Triangle

An equilateral triangle is placed on top of a square as shown by the figure below.

1

Find the perimeter of the shape.

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 8.95\)

\(\displaystyle 15.92\)

\(\displaystyle 11.55\)

\(\displaystyle 12.02\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 11.55\)

Explanation:

Recall that the perimeter is the sum of all the exterior sides of a shape. The sides that add up to the perimeter are highlighted in red.

13

Since the equilateral triangle shares a side with the square, each of the five sides that are outlined have the same length.

Recall that the height of an equilateral triangle splits the triangle into \(\displaystyle 2\) congruent \(\displaystyle 30-60-90\) triangles.

We can then use the height to find the length of the side of the triangle.

Recall that a \(\displaystyle 30-60-90\) triangle has sides that are in ratios of \(\displaystyle 1:\sqrt3:2\). The smallest side in the given figure is the base, the second longest side is the height, and the longest side is the side of the triangle itself.

Thus, we can use the ratio and the length of the height to set up the following equation:

\(\displaystyle \frac{\text{height}}{\sqrt3}=\frac{\text{side}}{2}\)

\(\displaystyle \text{side}=\frac{2(\text{height})}{\sqrt3}=\frac{2\sqrt3(\text{height})}{3}\)

Plug in the given height to find the length of the side.

\(\displaystyle \text{side}=\frac{2\sqrt3(\text{2})}{3}=\frac{4\sqrt3}{3}\)

Now, since the perimeter of the shape consists of \(\displaystyle 5\) of these sides, we can use the following equation to find the perimeter.

\(\displaystyle \text{Perimeter}=5(\text{side})\)

\(\displaystyle \text{Perimeter}=5(\frac{4\sqrt3}{3})=\frac{20\sqrt3}{3}=11.55\)

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