Question

The sides of a triangle have lengths (in cm) 10, 6.5 and a, where a is a whole number. Find the minimum value that a can take.
[3 marks]

Answer 1

As we know, the sum of any two sides in a triangle is always greater than the third side.
[1 mark]
10 + 6.5 > a ;a<16.5
10 + a > 6.5
6.5 + a > 10; a > 10 - 6.5 ;a > 3.5
[1 mark]
Hence minimum value that a can take is 4.
​​​​​​​[1 mark]