Question

A triangle has one side that is 4 centimeters long and one that is 9 centimeters long. The third side is a whole number of centimeters. What is the shortest possible third side?

Answer 1

The answer is 35! Hope this helps!

Answer 2

6

Explanation:

Using the Triangle Inequality Theorem, we can derive the range in which the third side, x. If you are having trouble with the theorem, it is that the sum of any two sides must be larger than the other side.

4 + 9 > x => x < 13

x + 4 > 9 => x > 5

x + 9 > 4 => x > -5

Combining all three equations gives us 5 < x < 13

Since the number is a whole number, the smallest whole number that satisfies the range is 6. The answer is 6.

Hope I helped!