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 A Potential Solution by Gordon Steel)

Gordon Steel wrote "According to a quick Excel spreadsheet approach there are 7 combinations that are right triangles (3, 4,5),(6,8,10), (5,12,13),(8,15,17),(9,12,15),(12,16,20) and (15,20,25)."

(15,20,25) is not valid. The sticks must be from 1 to 20.

Posted by Dan on 2003-11-05 17:18:37