Suppose you had five sticks of length 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 inches. If you chose three at random, what is the likelihood tht the three sticks could be put together, tip to tip, so as to form a triangle?

Now suppose you had twenty sticks, of lengths 1 through 20 inches. If you picked three at random, what is the likelihood that the three could be put together, tip to tip, to form a right triangle?

(Assume that a triangle has to have some area)

(In reply to Quick partial answer by Sam)

There is also 2, 4 and 5 as well as 3, 4 and 5. Out of the 10 ways that three sticks could be picked, that leaves a probability of 3/10 = .3.

Posted by Charlie on 2003-11-05 14:45:12