Robert has three iron rods. Rod A is 5 feet long, rod B is 7 feet long, and rod C is 13 feet long. If the full length of each rod is used, can the three iron rods be placed together to form a triangle?
To determine if the three iron rods can form a triangle, we need to check if the sum of the lengths of the two shorter rods is greater than the length of the longest rod for all possible pairs.
Let's check all possible pairs:
- Rod A and Rod B: 5 + 7 = 12 < 13 (Rod C)
- Rod A and Rod C: 5 + 13 = 18 > 7 (Rod B)
- Rod B and Rod C: 7 + 13 = 20 > 5 (Rod A)
Since in all possible pairs, the sum of the lengths of the two shorter rods is greater than the length of the longest rod, the three iron rods can be placed together to form a triangle.