Question

The shortest side of an isosceles triangle is 4x−2 inches long. The two longer sides are 5 inches longer than the shortest side. The perimeter of the triangle is 64 inches.
What is the length of the longer sides of the triangle?

Answer 1

Answer:

23 inches

Step-by-step explanation:

If we add 5 inches to the shortest side, all sides will be the same length and the perimeter will be 69 inches. The longest sides have length that is 1/3 that, or ...

... (1/3)·(64 +5 in) = 23 in

_____

You can solve for x, but you obviously don't need to.

The perimeter is ...

... (4x -2) + 2(4x -2 +5) = 64

... 12x +4 = 64

... 12x = 60

... x = 5

... 4x -2 +5 = 4·5 +3 = 23 . . . . the length of the longest side in inches