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Smallest Altitude of a Triangle

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by dtweah » Tue May 12, 2009 2:36 am
What is the smallest altitude in the triangle with sides 3, 4 and 5?
a. 5/7
b. 1
c. 2
d. 12/5
e. 3
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Re: Smallest Altitude of a Triangle

by ousek » Tue May 12, 2009 3:56 am
dtweah wrote:What is the smallest altitude in the triangle with sides 3, 4 and 5?
a. 5/7
b. 1
c. 2
d. 12/5
e. 3
Hi,

The basic for formula for triangle altitude is:
Area=altitude*base
Hence: 3*4=altitude*5 => altitude=12/5

My answer : D

Best regards,
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Re: Smallest Altitude of a Triangle

by dtweah » Tue May 12, 2009 6:10 am
ousek wrote:
dtweah wrote:What is the smallest altitude in the triangle with sides 3, 4 and 5?
a. 5/7
b. 1
c. 2
d. 12/5
e. 3
Hi,

The basic for formula for triangle altitude is:
Area=altitude*base
Hence: 3*4=altitude*5 => altitude=12/5

You nailed it Ousek.
My answer : D

Best regards,
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by aiex99 » Tue May 12, 2009 4:57 pm
why aren't we using the formula Area=1/2(base*height)?

Is there a difference between altitude and height?
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by sureshbala » Tue May 12, 2009 5:39 pm
Area of the triangle = 1/2 X base X altitude.

If you consider 4 as the base, the altitude will be 3

So area = 1/2 X 3 X 4.....(1)

The altitude of a triangle will be least provided the base is maximum.

So the least altitude will be on the side 5.

Hence considering 5 as the base, and the altitude (which will be least) on to it as A, the area is

1/2 X 5 X A......(2)

Since the area of a triangle is constant, we have (1) = (2)

i.e. 1/2 X 3 X 4 = 1/2 X 5 X A

i.e A = 12/5
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by ousek » Tue May 19, 2009 11:59 am
aiex99 wrote:why aren't we using the formula Area=1/2(base*height)?

Is there a difference between altitude and height?
Oups, I'm sorry, in haste, I forgot the 1/2 in both sides.
Fucking GMAT
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