Two side lengths of a triangle are 11 and 17. What is the longest possible integer length of the third side of the triangle?
Dont know where to start
use the good ol' pythagorean theorem
a^2+b^2=c^2
11^2+17^2=410
x^2=410
sqrt410 (can't be simplified any further)
I tried this when I did it, and it wasn't right, but Cphill gave a simple answer which used triangle inequality. Great answer though, I can see why you got that
Got to be careful here.....we might not necessarily have a right triangle
In general.....The sum of any two sides of a triangle is greater than the remaining side (this is known as the trinagle inequality)
So
11+ 17 = 28
So the remaining side must be < 28 = 27
Thanks so much! I'll definitely do a little bit more research on triangle inequality