Triangle ABC has side lengths 8 inches, 17 inches, and 15 inches. Sofia uses the following steps to conclude that triangle ABC i

Question

3 years ago

15

Triangle ABC has side lengths 8 inches, 17 inches, and 15 inches. Sofia uses the following steps to conclude that triangle ABC i

s not a right triangle.
a2+b2=c282+172=15264+289=225353 ≠ 225

What mistake did Sofia make?

Sofia made a calculation error.

Sofia used the length of one of the legs as c when she should have used the length of the longest side as c.

Sofia does not know if triangle ABC is a right triangle, so she cannot use the Pythagorean Theorem or its converse.

Sofia’s conclusion is incorrect. When the sides of a triangle do not satisfy a2+b2=c2, you cannot conclude that the triangle is a right triangle.

Mathematics