Question

You want to describe the triangle below
to another student over the phone. How
would you describe the triangle so that
the student would know exactly what it
looks like? What do you not know?
(see picture attached)

Answer 1

Answer: What I do not know is the measurement of the third side.

Step-by-step explanation: The first thing to explain over the phone is that this is a scalene triangle. Two sides have been identified, and two angles have also been identified. For an equilateral triangle, all three sides and all three angles must be equal. For an isosceles triangle, two sides and two angles must be equal. In this diagram, two angles have been given as 88° and 50°. The third angle be derived as

88 + 50 + X = 180

138 + X = 180

X = 42.

If all three angles are now given as 88, 50 and 42 then the triangle is definitely a scalene triangle, and this would surely mean the measurement of the third side would be different from the other two. And to calculate the third side would require the application of the Sine Rule, which would in itself require the use of a calculator and careful mathematical calculations.