Question

The lengths of two sides of a triangle are 14 inches and 4 inches which of following is the dimensions is the third side of the triangle?
10 in
11 in
8 in
9 in

Answer 1

The sum of any 2 sides of a triangle must be bigger than the length of the third side.

Given 2 sides we can make 3 inequality's to solve:

Let X = the length of the third side.

#1) 14 + 4 > x

18 > x

#2) 14 + X > 4

x > 4-14 = -10 ( This doesn't work because we can't have a side length that is a negative number)

#3) 4 + X > 14

x >14-4 = 10

So using #1 and #3 X has to be greater than 10 and less than 18

The length of the third side is 11.