Thread: ratio problem

Andrew wants to fence a portion of this yard. He has 680 feet of fencing and plans to use half of it. The fenced area will be shaped like a righttriangles with sides in the ratio of 3:4:5. Which range describes the shrotest side of the triangle?

A. less than 40 ft.
B. from 40 ft. to 80 ft.
C. from 85 ft. to 125 ft.
D. from 130 ft. to 170 ft.

Originally Posted by lilmama-14

Andrew wants to fence a portion of this yard. He has 680 feet of fencing and plans to use half of it. The fenced area will be shaped like a righttriangles with sides in the ratio of 3:4:5. Which range describes the shrotest side of the triangle?

A. less than 40 ft.
B. from 40 ft. to 80 ft.
C. from 85 ft. to 125 ft.
D. from 130 ft. to 170 ft.

You need a unit. All you have at the moment is a relationship of the sides. Let's call the unit "x". The sides of the triangle are 3x, 4x, and 5x.

You have the perimeter: 3x + 4x +5x = 340 ft

You are looking for 3x. Let's see what you get.