sides of a triangle question

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sides of a triangle question

by iridebikes » Fri Jan 14, 2011 12:40 pm
In isoceles triangle MNP, MN=MP and NP=6. Which of the following could be the length of side MN?

I. 2
II. 6
III. 12

A) II only
B) III only
C) I and II only
D) II and III only
E) I,II, and III

I was under the impression that for any two sides, the shortest side must be greater than the difference between the longest/shortest. Thanks guys.
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by anshumishra » Fri Jan 14, 2011 1:37 pm
iridebikes wrote:In isoceles triangle MNP, MN=MP and NP=6. Which of the following could be the length of side MN?

I. 2
II. 6
III. 12

A) II only
B) III only
C) I and II only
D) II and III only
E) I,II, and III

I was under the impression that for any two sides, the shortest side must be greater than the difference between the longest/shortest. Thanks guys.
The sum of the lengths of any two sides of a triangle is greater than the length of the third side.
So, 2 is not possible.
6 and 12 are possible.
D
Thanks
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by bblast » Sat Jan 15, 2011 4:17 am
anshumishra wrote:
iridebikes wrote:In isoceles triangle MNP, MN=MP and NP=6. Which of the following could be the length of side MN?

I. 2
II. 6
III. 12

A) II only
B) III only
C) I and II only
D) II and III only
E) I,II, and III

I was under the impression that for any two sides, the shortest side must be greater than the difference between the longest/shortest. Thanks guys.
The sum of the lengths of any two sides of a triangle is greater than the length of the third side.
So, 2 is not possible.
6 and 12 are possible.
D

Anshu i got to the answer, but sorry for bothering you again.

for triangles' side length i remember 2 properties :
a+b > c and
|a-b| < c (mod of difference of 2 sides is always less than the 3rd side)

for isosceles if I apply the second property, the length comes as |6-6| < 6. is this correct (i mean 6-6 = 0) ?
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by anshumishra » Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:54 am
bblast wrote:
anshumishra wrote:
iridebikes wrote:In isoceles triangle MNP, MN=MP and NP=6. Which of the following could be the length of side MN?

I. 2
II. 6
III. 12

A) II only
B) III only
C) I and II only
D) II and III only
E) I,II, and III

I was under the impression that for any two sides, the shortest side must be greater than the difference between the longest/shortest. Thanks guys.
The sum of the lengths of any two sides of a triangle is greater than the length of the third side.
So, 2 is not possible.
6 and 12 are possible.
D

Anshu i got to the answer, but sorry for bothering you again.

for triangles' side length i remember 2 properties :
a+b > c and
|a-b| < c (mod of difference of 2 sides is always less than the 3rd side)

for isosceles if I apply the second property, the length comes as |6-6| < 6. is this correct (i mean 6-6 = 0) ?
No problem bblast.
Here you have been assuming that a and b are equal (to 6) and you are trying to find the range for c. If that would have been the case, then it is right. If in a triangle two sides are equal to 6, the third side can take any value greater than 0 (and less than 6+6).

But, here the case is different. We are given one side equal to 6 and want to find range for the other two sides which are equal.

Lets say, a = b = x
c = 6
Using your rule :

Find the lower limit of x:
x+x > 6
=> x> 3 ... we found the lower limit

Find the upper limit of x:
If i use x-x < 6 => 0< 6 , that is an identity so it means any value of x is good.

Combining the two: x>3
Any value of x satisfying this can be the two sides.
Last edited by anshumishra on Sat Jan 15, 2011 2:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by arora007 » Sat Jan 15, 2011 7:42 am
The answer should be B, III, carefully read.... its an isoceles triangle,
MNP, MN=MP and NP=6

so NP is not equal to MN or MP i.e. MN=MP not equalto 6
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by anshumishra » Sat Jan 15, 2011 8:03 am
arora007 wrote:The answer should be B, III, carefully read.... its an isoceles triangle,
MNP, MN=MP and NP=6

so NP is not equal to MN or MP i.e. MN=MP not equalto 6
Now that was real good :D.
However based on this : https://mathworld.wolfram.com/IsoscelesTriangle.html,
"An isosceles triangle is a triangle with (at least) two equal sides", that means all equilateral triangles are also isosceles (And hence the answers derived earlier is still right).
Thanks
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by arora007 » Sat Jan 15, 2011 8:14 am
Ha...ha...you are right! I totally agree with you ;-)
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by nehatandon » Sat Jan 15, 2011 2:29 pm
what's the OA?

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by ankur.agrawal » Sat Jan 15, 2011 8:07 pm
anshumishra wrote:
arora007 wrote:The answer should be B, III, carefully read.... its an isoceles triangle,
MNP, MN=MP and NP=6

so NP is not equal to MN or MP i.e. MN=MP not equalto 6
Now that was real good :D.
However based on this : https://mathworld.wolfram.com/IsoscelesTriangle.html,
"An isosceles triangle is a triangle with (at least) two equal sides", that means all equilateral triangles are also isosceles (And hence the answers derived earlier is still right).
Nice catch . Thx buddy

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by arora007 » Sat Jan 15, 2011 11:06 pm
neha,ankur, I believe for the GMAT world, we should have an isosceles triangle with only 2 sides equal.
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