Question

3 sides of the triangle are distinct perfect squares. What is the smallest possible perimeter of the triangle?

Answer 1

Answer:

77

Step-by-step explanation:

At first, you would probably think that the side lengths are 1², 2², 3² = 1, 4 and 9 but these side lengths don't form a triangle. The Triangle Inequality states that the sum of the two shortest side lengths must be greater than the largest side length, and since 1 + 4 > 9 is a false statement, it's not a triangle. Let's try 2², 3², 4² = 4, 9, 16. 4 + 9 > 16 is also false so that doesn't work. 3², 4², 5² = 9, 16, 25 but since 9 + 16 > 25 is false (25 isn't greater than 25), that doesn't work either. 4², 5², 6² = 16, 25, 36 and since 16 + 25 > 36 is true, this is our triangle which means that the perimeter is 16 + 25 + 36 = 77.