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Can someone please help me with this problem?

Use the information given in the figure to find the length BC.
If applicable, round your answer to the nearest whole number.
The lengths on the figure are not drawn accurately.
85
39
B
15
D
-
BC=?

Can someone please help me with this problem? Use the information given in the figure-example-1

1 Answer

4 votes

Answer:

BC = 62

Explanation:

There are 3 triangles total in the figure shown, one large triangle, and two smaller triangles created by the segment BC. Now, look at triangle ACD and see that is a scaled version of common right triangle.

Some common right triangles are 3-4-5, 5-12-13, and 7-24-25. You may be able to see a pattern here where the square of the smallest side length is equal to the sum of the other two side lengths. Triangle ACD happens to be a scaled form of a 5-12-13 triangle. The triangle is scaled by a factor of 3. So the respective side length of AD is 12 * 3 = 36.

Now look at triangle ABD. We have two of the three side lengths.

AD = 36

AB = 85

We want to find BC, so we will use the pythagorean theorem, with (x + 15) to represent the length of BD.

35² + (x + 15)² = 85²

1225 + (x + 15)² = 7225

(x + 15)² = 6000

x + 15 = ±√6000

x = -15 ± √6000

Our equation provides two answers, but the negative value doesn't make sense because length can't be negative, so use the positive length for this application.

x = -15 + √6000

x = 62.4596

Rounded to the nearest whole number, the length of BC is 62.

User Lukas Kral
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