Question

One side of a triangle is 4 times longer than the shortest side and the third side is 3 centimeters less than twice the length of the shortest side. The perimeter of the triangle is 46.How long is the shortest side of the triangle?

Answer 1

Let's use the variable x to represent the shortest side of the triangle.

If one side is 4 times longer than the shortest side, it measures "4x".

If the third side is 3 cm less than twice the length of the shortest side, it measures "2x - 3".

So, if the perimeter is 46 cm, we have:

`\begin{gathered} x+4x+2x-3=46 \\ 7x-3=46 \\ 7x=49 \\ x=(49)/(7)=7 \end{gathered}`

So the shortest side measures 7 cm.