Suppose ABC is an equilateral triangle and P is a point inside the triangle, such that PA = 3 cms., PB = 4 cms., and PC = 5 cms.
Then find the length of the side of the equilateral triangle.

I'm sure there's a better way to do this, but while I was looking at the problem, I noticed the lengths of the lines that are drawn from P to triangle vertices are proportionate. I then cheated like a madwoman and realized that 4 is the length needed for each segment to meet in the center of the triangle. I drew an imaginary line from the middle of one the sides of the triangle to P, and had a 30-60-90 triangle. Two times the langth of s times the square root of three should be the answer. 8[3^(1/2)]

Posted by Rachel on 2003-12-18 08:59:48