ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos

Triangle Inequality Theorem 3916 Views


Share It!


Description:

The triangle inequality theorem states that no two sides, when added, can be less then the length of the third side. However, that doesn't stop our brother from giving us two slices of cake that are definitely smaller than his slice. Not cool, bro.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

Triangle Inequality Theorem, a la Shmoop. Peculiar Pisano's Pizza is mighty tasty.

00:11

However, while their pies have great flavor, they're a little... oddly shaped.

00:20

On a flyer in front, Peculiar Pisano has posted a geometry problem...

00:24

...and is offering a free pizza to anyone who gets it right.

00:28

Gotta have a gimmick these days. Slice of pizza ABC has side lengths of 5,

00:34

7 and x... ...while slice of pizza DEF has side lengths

00:39

of 8, 9 and y.

00:42

If x and y are integers, what is the largest possible value for x plus y?

00:55

Ok, here are the choices:

01:02

Right away we can throw "A" to the wolves. In all our days of pizza-eating...

01:06

...we've never seen a slice that exists in negative space.

01:09

Awesome - we have instantly increased our chances of getting this problem correct by

01:13

20%. According to the triangle inequality theorem...

01:18

...no side of a triangle can be longer than the sum of the other two sides.

01:22

Since we know this rule to be true... ...we know for a fact that the third side

01:30

of slice ABC has to be less than 12... ...and the third side of slice DEF has to

01:36

be less than 17. Since we're also told that x and y are integers,

01:41

or numbers that do not contain any fractions or decimal points after it...

01:45

...11 and 16 are the max values for sides x and y, respectively.

01:50

Add 'em together, and you get 27... which is choice "D."

01:57

Okay, Pisano -- fork it over. And put some pep in your step.

Up Next

Triangles
6458 Views

This video covers the different types of triangle. What makes a triangle isosceles, scalene, or equilateral? What about the different kinds of angl...

Related Videos

SOHCAHTOA
4616 Views

Sine is the opposite over the hypotenuse; cosine is the adjacent over the hypotenuse; and tangent is the opposite side over the adjacent side....

Proving Triangles Congruent
3286 Views

Someday you might be a big, fancy defense lawyer, and you'll have to prove that your client's triangle was congruent to the triangle in question. W...

Centers of a Triangle
573 Views

You might not think that the properties of a triangle would be particularly helpful in the realm of Tootsie Pop lickology. But boy, would you be wr...

All You Need to Know about Triangles
695 Views

How does learning about triangle angles and types of triangles while being told a story about Goldilocks sound to you? Not too shabby. Grab a snack...