Question

The largest angle in a triangle is six times the smallest angle. The middle angle is three times the smallest angle. Given that the sum of the angles in a triangle is , find the measure of each angle.

Answer 1

Smallest: 18° Middle: 54° Largest: 108°

Explanation:

We can start by writing out what we know in a series of equations:

s= smallest angle, m= medium angle, L= largest angle.

Since the largest is 6 times the smallest we have:

L=6s

Since the middle is 3 times the smallest we have:

m=3s

Since the 3 interior angle measures of a triangle always must equal 180°, we have:

s+m+L=180

Then we plug in our L and m into the third equation:

s+3s+6s=180

Combining like terms and solving:

10s=180

s=18

Then we plug in 18 for s into the first 2 equations to get:

L= 6* 18

L= 108

and

m= 3* 18

m= 54

So s= 18, m= 54, and L=108.

To check the answer we can:

• Add the three to make sure they equal 180.

• Make sure the smallest is the smallest, and the largest is the largest.