Two sides of a triangle are equal. The third side is 5 inches longer than the one with equal sides. What is the length of the equal sides if the perimeter is 32 inches?
To find the length of the equal sides of the triangle, let's start by representing the length of one of the equal sides as 'x'. Since the two sides of the triangle are equal, the other equal side will also have a length of 'x'.
According to the given information, the third side is 5 inches longer than the one with equal sides. Therefore, the length of the third side can be represented as 'x + 5'.
The perimeter of a triangle is the sum of the lengths of all three sides. In this case, the perimeter is given as 32 inches. So, we can set up the equation:
x + x + (x + 5) = 32
Simplifying this equation, we combine like terms:
3x + 5 = 32
Next, let's isolate 'x' by subtracting 5 from both sides of the equation:
3x = 32 - 5
3x = 27
Finally, we can solve for 'x' by dividing both sides of the equation by 3:
x = 27 / 3
x = 9
Therefore, the length of each of the equal sides of the triangle is 9 inches.
If X is one of the two equal sides, the given data tells you that
X + X + (X + 5) = 32
Your turn.