Question

You are asked to draw a triangle with side lengths of 10 inches, 7 inches, and 2 inches. How many triangles like this can you draw?
A) one
B) three
C) two
D) zero

Correct Answer: A

Answer 1

The answer should be D: Zero.
A triangle has three sides. Two of them are called the legs and the last longest one is called the hypotenuse. You have to do this equation:
l^2 + L^2 = h^2
The sum of the legs to the power of 2 should equal the hypotenuse to the power of 2
7(7) + 2(2) = 10(10)
49 + 4 = 100. This is false. So you cannot make a triangle with these three side lengths.

Answer 2

Well, if you say it's A...  But that does make sense.  Using the triangle inequality theorem, there is only one triangle you can make from that.