Problema Solution

A triangle has a perimeter of 42 inches. The medium side is 6 more than the short side, and the longest side is 4 times the length of the shortest side. Find the shortest side.

Answer provided by our tutors

let 'x' represent the length of the short side, then 'x+6' represents the length of the medium side and '4x' represents the length of the longest side


perimeter is the sum of the lengths of all sides, therefore:

42 = x + x+6 + 4x

42-6 = 6x

x = 36/6 = 6


the shortest side has a length of 6 inches