Final answer:
The correct equation that relates the sides of the triangle to its perimeter is 3s - 7 = 17, where 's' represents the second side of the triangle.
Step-by-step explanation:
To solve for the sides of the triangle in terms of its perimeter, let us assume the second side of the triangle is 's' inches. According to the problem, the first side is 's - 5' inches, and the third side is 's - 5 + 3', which simplifies to 's - 2' inches. Since the perimeter of a triangle is the sum of its sides, we can set up the following equation representing the perimeter:
s + (s - 5) + (s - 2) = 17
This equation simplifies to:
3s - 7 = 17,
which correctly relates the lengths of the sides to the perimeter of the triangle.