The perimeter of a right-angled triangle is 72 cm. The lengths of its sides are in the ratio 3 : 4 : 5 Work out the area of the triangle

Perimeter= 72Ratios are 3:4:5In total, you can think of there being 3+4+5=12 "portions".This means that in the perimeter includes 12 portions. 72/12=6 so each portion is worth 6cm.
Now we can work out the length of each side.3:4:5 scaled up by 6 (recall that each portion is worth 6cm) yields sides of lengths 18cm, 24cm and 30 cm.
Note that the question says that it is a right angled triangle, therefore, we can use the formula for the area of a right angled triangle (1/2 x a x b).
Does it matter what you set a and b as? Yes, because neither a nor b are the hypotenuse. In our triangle, the hypotenuse will be 30cm (the longest length) so our a and b must be 18 and 24.
1/2 x 18 x 24 = 216cm^2

NA
Answered by Natasha A. Maths tutor

2662 Views

See similar Maths GCSE tutors

Related Maths GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Solve the following simultaneous equations: 2y+x=8 , 1+y=2x


How can you factorise quadratics with a an x^2 coefficient higher than one?


A bag contains 8 oranges, 9 pears and 13 apples. What is the probability a pear is picked?


Nadia has £5 to buy pencils and rulers. Pencils are 8p each. Rulers are 30p each. She says “I will buy 15 pencils. Then I will buy as many rulers as possible. With my change I will buy more pencils.” How many pencils and how many rulers does she buy?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences