CHAPTER 17

Triangles

17-1. Angles of a Triangle

Angle Sum Theorem B
The angle sum of a triangle is 180 .

180
m∠A + m∠B + m∠C =
A C

Exterior Angle Theorem B

The measure of an exterior angle of a triangle is equal to exterior angle
remote interior
the sum of the measures of the two remote interior angles. angles
m∠BCD = m∠A + m∠B
A
C D
Isosceles Triangle Theorem B vertex angle
If two sides of a triangle are congruent, the
leg leg
angles opposite of those sides are congruent.
If AB = BC , then m∠C = m∠A . base angles
The converse is also true. A C
base

Isosceles Triangle Theorem - Corollary B

If a line bisects the vertex angle of an isosceles triangle,
the line is the perpendicular bisector of the base.
If AB = BC and m∠ABD = m∠CBD ,
then BD ⊥ AC and AD = CD . A C
D

Example 1 □ a. In ∆ABC shown below, AB = BC , m∠BCD =

110 and m∠BDE =
140.
Find m∠1 , m∠2 , m∠3 , and m∠4 .

3 4

110 140
2 1
A
C D E

Solution □ m∠1 + m∠BCD =180 Straight angle equals 180 .

m∠1 + 110 =180 Substitution
m∠=
1 180 − 110= 70 Subtraction
m∠2 = m∠1 = 70 Isosceles Triangle Theorem
m∠3 + m∠2 =110 Exterior Angle Theorem
m∠3 + 70 =110 Substitution
m∠3 =40 Subtraction
m∠4 + 110 =140 Exterior Angle Theorem
m∠4 = 30 Subtraction
280 Chapter 17

Exercises - Angles of a Triangle

1 4

x
B
 30
48 (3 x − 40)

In the triangle above, what is the value of x ? 55

A C

Note: Figure not drawn to scale.

A) 44
B) 48
C) 52 In the figure above, AC ⊥ BC . What is the
measure of ∠ABC ?
D) 56

A) 50
2 B) 55

B C) 60

18
D) 65
D
x
A C

In ∆ABC above, if AB
= AD
= DC , what is the
value of x ? 5

B
A) 92
B) 96
C) 102 A C
D
D) 108

In the figure above, AD= BD = BC . If

3 m∠A = 26 , what is the measure of m∠DBC ?

B
A) 68
x2 2 x + 15 B) 72
C) 76

A C D) 82

In ∆ABC above, m∠A = m∠C . If x > 0 , what is

the value of x ?
Triangles 281

17-2. Pythagorean Theorem and Special Right Triangles

A triangle with a right angle is called a right triangle. B
The side opposite to the right angle is called the hypotenuse
and the other two sides are called legs. c
a
In a right triangle the acute angles are complementary.
In triangle shown at right, m∠A + m∠B = 90 .
A C
The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, b
the sum of the squares of the lengths of the legs equals
the square of the length of the hypotenuse.
In right triangle ABC at the right, a 2 + b 2 =
c2 .
The converse is also true.
2 2x
The Pythagorean theorem can be used to determine the ratios 1 x
of the lengths of the sides of two special right triangles.
45 45
  
In a 45 -45 -90 triangle, the hypotenuse is 2 times 1 x
as long as a leg. An isosceles right triangle is also called
a 45 -45 -90 triangle.
In a 30 -60 -90 triangle, the hypotenuse is twice as long 2 2x
as the shorter leg, and the longer leg is 3 times as long 3 3x
as the shorter leg. 60 60
1 x

Example 1 □ In the figure below, find the value of x .

B x C

7
3

A 3 D

Solution □ BD=
2
( 7) 2 + 3=
3
16 Pythagorean Theorem
=x 2
BD + 3 2 2
Pythagorean Theorem
x = 16 + 9 = 25
2
Substitution
=x = 25 5

Example 2 □ In the figures below, find the values of x and y .

a. b.

y y
x 3

45 60
2 x

Solution □ a. Since a 45 -45 -90 triangle is an isosceles right triangle, x = 2 .

In a 45 -45 -90 triangle, hypotenuse= 2 ⋅ leg ⇒ y = 2 2
3
b. In a 30 -60 -90 triangle, longer leg
= 3 ⋅ shorter leg ⇒ 3 = 3x ⇒ =
x = 3
3
hypotenuse = 2 ⋅ shorter leg ⇒ y = 2 3
282 Chapter 17

Exercises - Pythagorean Theorem and Special Right Triangles

1 3

A B
D

2 3

30
C B
D 2 3 A C

Note: Figure not drawn to scale.

= BD
In the figure above, if AD = 2 3 , what is
the length of AB ?
In the figure above, AB = 6 , BC = 8 , and CD = 5 .
What is the length of AD ?
A) 4 3

B) 3 6 A) 4 3
C) 6 B) 5 2
D) 6 2 C) 5 3

D) 6 2

2 4
B B

3 4 2
 
30 60
A C A C
D D

14
In ∆ABC above, BD = 3 . What is the perimeter
of ∆ABC ? Note: Figure not drawn to scale.

A) 2 2 + 6 In the figure above, ∠A ≅ ∠C and BD bisects

AC . What is the perimeter of ∆ABC ?
B) 2 3 + 6

C) 2 6 + 6 A) 32

D) 3 2 + 6 B) 36

C) 14 + 10 2

D) 14 + 12 2
Triangles 283

17-3. Similar Triangles and Proportional Parts F

C
AA Similarity Postulate
If two angles of one triangle are congruent to two angles
of another triangle, the triangles are similar.
If two triangles are similar, their corresponding angles are B A E D
congruent and their corresponding sides are proportional.
If ∠A ≅ ∠D and ∠B ≅ ∠E , then ∠C ≅ ∠F .
If two triangles are similar, their perimeters are proportional Therefore ∆ABC  ∆DEF , and
to the measures of the corresponding sides. AB BC AC perimeter of ∆ABC
= = = .
DE EF DF perimeter of ∆DEF

Triangle Proportionality Theorem

B
If a line parallel to one side of a triangle intersects the
other two sides, it divides those sides proportionally.

In ∆ABC , if AC  DE then ∆ABC  ∆DBE by AA Similarity. D E

AB CB AC BD BE BA BC
It follows that = = . Also = , = , A C
DB EB DE DA EC DA EC
BD BA BE BC
= , and = .
DE AC DE AC
1
If D and E are the midpoints of AB and BC , AC  DE and DE = AC .
2

Example 1 □ In the figure below, AB  DE . Find CD and CE .

B
9 6
E
C 6.75
A 13
D

Solution □ m∠A = m∠E Alternate Interior ∠s are ≅ .

m∠BCA =∠ m DCE Vertical ∠s are ≅ .
∆ABC  ∆EDC AA Similarity
AB BC 9 6
Therefore = ⇒ = ⇒ DC = 4.5
ED DC 6.75 DC
AB AC 9 13
= ⇒ = ⇒ EC = 9.75
ED EC 6.75 EC

Example 2 □ In the figure at right, AC  DE . B

Find the length of DA and AC . 6 8
D E
10
BD BE 6 8 12
Solution □ = ⇒ = ⇒ DA = 9
DA EC DA 12
A C
BD BA 6 6+9
= ⇒ = ⇒ AC = 25
DE AC 10 AC
284 Chapter 17

Exercises - Similar Triangles and Proportional Parts

A Questions 3 and 4 refer to the following

information.
6 B

B D 12 7.8
C
3
D E
E 9
8 y

In the figure above, if AB = 6 , DE = 3 , and C

A x
BD = 12 , what is the length of AE ?

A) 12 In the figure above, DE  AC .

B) 9 2
3
C) 8 3
What is the value of x ?
D) 15

A) 12.5
B) 15
2
C) 16.5
A D) 18

D
10

C 4
11 What is the value of y ?
16
E
B A) 5.2
Note: Figure not drawn to scale. B) 5.6
C) 6.0
In the figure above, ∠B ≅ ∠D. If BC = 16 ,
D) 6.4
CD = 10 , and CE = 11 , what is the length
of AE ?

A) 16.8
B) 17.2
C) 17.6
D) 18.4
 Triangles 285

17-4. Area of a Triangle

The area A of a triangle equals half the product of a base
and the height to that base. B
1
=A b⋅h F
2 D
Area of equilateral triangle with side length of a .
1 3 3 2
=A = (a )( a) a
2 2 4 A C
E
Any side of a triangle can be used as a base. The height that
corresponds to the base is the perpendicular line segment from
the opposite vertex to the base. The area of ∆ABC at the right
1 1 1
can be written in 3 different ways: area of ∆ABC = BC ⋅ AD= AC ⋅ BE = AB ⋅ CF .
2 2 2
The perimeter P of a triangle is the sum of the lengths of all three sides.
P = AB + BC + CA

Ratios of Areas of Two Triangles

1. If two triangles are similar with corresponding sides in a ratio of a : b , then the ratio of their areas
equals a 2 : b 2 .
2. If two triangles have equal heights, then the ratio of their areas equals the ratio of their bases.
3. If two triangles have equal bases, then the ratio of their areas equals the ratio of their heights.

Example 1 □ In the figure below, if AC = 6 , BD = 4 , and AB = 8 , what is the length of CE ?

A C
D

1 1
Solution □ Area of ∆ABC = AC ⋅ BD = AB ⋅ CE .
2 2
1 1
⇒ (6)(4) = (8)(CE ) ⇒ CE = 3
2 2

Example 2 □ In the figure below, AD = 5 and DC = 3 . Find the ratio of the area of ∆ABD
to the area of ∆CBD .
B

A C
5 D 3

Solution □ The two triangles have the same height, so the ratio of the areas of the two
triangles is equal to the ratio of their bases.
area of ∆ABD AD 5
= =
area of ∆CBD CD 3
286 Chapter 17

Exercises - Area of a Triangle

1 3

A B

12 12

30 30 C
C B A
15 D

In the figure above, the area of right triangle In the figure above, what is the area of ∆ABC ?
ABC is 60. What is the perimeter of ∆ABC ?
A) 24 3
A) 34
B) 30 3
B) 36
C) 36 3
C) 38
D) 40 D) 48 3

2 4

III B

A C I
D

In triangle ABC above, if BD was increased by A C

50 percent and AC was reduced by 50 percent,
how would the area of ∆ABC change? II

A) The area of ∆ABC would be decreased by

25 percent.
The figure above shows right triangle ∆ABC
B) The area of ∆ABC would be increased by and three squares. If the area of square region I
25 percent. is 80 square inches and the area of square region II
C) The area of ∆ABC would not change. is 150 square inches, which of the following is true
about the area of square region III?
D) The area of ∆ABC would be decreased by
50 percent. A) Less than 230 square inches.
B) More than 230 square inches.
C) Equal to 230 square inches.
D) It cannot be determined from the information
given.
Triangles 287

Chapter 17 Practice Test

1 3

C P
B
x −1
V
D Q
x +1
W
A x R
E
T U
S
In the figure above, CDE is an equilateral triangle
Note: Figure not drawn to scale.
and ABCD is a square with an area of 4x 2 . What
is the area of triangle CDE in terms of x ?
In the figure above, VQ  WR  TS .
If PS = 15 , what is the length of RS ?
3 2
A) x
2
A) 4.5
B) 3x 2
B) 5
3 3 2 C) 6
C) x
2
D) 6.5
D) 2 3x 2

T
35
P 50
S 6

S 7.5 D
18
Q R Note: Figure not drawn to scale.

In the figure above, PQ ⊥ QR and PQ ≅ PT . A person 6 feet tall stands so that the ends of his
What is the measure of ∠R ? shadow and the shadow of the pole coincide. The
length of the person’s shadow was measured 7.5
A) 30 feet and the length of the pole’s shadow, SD,
B) 35 was measured 18 feet. How tall is the pole?

C) 40
A) 12.8
D) 45
B) 13.6
C) 14.4
D) 15.2
288 Chapter 17

5 7

A S

P 6.4
5
E

R
8
Q
C B T
D
In the figure above, PQ  ST and segment PT
In the figure above, ∆ABC and ∆DBE are right intersects segment QS at R . What is the length
triangles. If AC = 12 , BC = 15 , and DE = 8 , what of segment QS ?
is the length of BE ?

A) 8.5
B) 9
C) 9.5
8
D) 10
S
R
Q
P

b W
3x V 2.5x U 3.5x
T

In the figure above, if PS = 162 , what is the length

 of segment QR ?
130

a

In the figure above, what is the value of a − b ?

A) 50 9

B) 55 B
26
C) 60
D) 65 C
A 48

In the figure above, what is the area of the isosceles

triangle ABC ?