A triangle has a perimeter of 47 inches. The medium side is
5 more than the short side, and the longest side is
4 times the length of the shortest side. Find the shortest side.
well, if the short side is x, then you know that
x + x+5 + 4x = 47
now just crank it out.
Let's call the shortest side of the triangle "x" inches.
According to the problem, the medium side is 5 more than the short side, so the medium side is (x + 5) inches.
The longest side is 4 times the length of the shortest side, so the longest side is 4x inches.
The perimeter of a triangle is the sum of all its sides, so we can write the equation:
x + (x + 5) + 4x = 47
Combining like terms, we have:
6x + 5 = 47
Subtracting 5 from both sides, we get:
6x = 42
Dividing both sides by 6, we find:
x = 7
Therefore, the shortest side of the triangle is 7 inches.
To solve this problem, let's first assign some variables. Let's call the length of the shortest side "x".
According to the given information, the medium side is 5 more than the short side. So, the length of the medium side would be x + 5.
The longest side is 4 times the length of the shortest side. Therefore, the length of the longest side would be 4x.
Since we know the definition of perimeter is the sum of all sides of a shape, we can set up an equation to solve for x:
x + (x + 5) + 4x = 47
Simplifying the equation:
6x + 5 = 47
Next, let's isolate x by subtracting 5 from both sides:
6x = 42
Now, divide both sides of the equation by 6 to solve for x:
x = 7
So, the shortest side of the triangle is 7 inches.