Question

Mr. Stewart gives his students 3 straws that measure 10 inches, 12 inches and 18 inches. Ryan says that there is only one unique way to arrange the straws to form a triangle. Marcy says there are many ways to arrange the straws to form a triangle. Which student is correct? Explain.

Answer 1

Marcy is correct

Explanation:

If you had 3 straws that were the SAME length then there would only be 1 possible way to arrange them because no matter what order you put them in to form a triangle the outcome would always be the same because all 3 straws are the same length.

Since there are different lengths of straws, there are 3 possible ways you can arrange them so basically, there are multiple ways you can arrange the straws to make a triangle.

Marcy is correct.

Ryan is wrong.