Look at the following triangle.
What is the value of X?
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Look at the following triangle.
What is the value of X?
It is important to remember: the Pythagorean theorem is only valid for right-angled triangles.
This triangle does not have a right angle, and therefore, the missing side cannot be calculated in this way.
Cannot be solved
Consider a right-angled triangle, AB = 8 cm and AC = 6 cm.
Calculate the length of side BC.
Look for a right angle symbol (small square) in one of the corners, or check if one angle measures exactly 90 degrees. Without this marking, you cannot assume it's a right triangle.
Never assume based on appearance alone! Diagrams can be misleading. You need either an explicit right angle marking or given angle measurements to confirm it's 90°.
Yes! You can use the Law of Cosines or Law of Sines, but these require knowing at least one angle measurement. With only two sides given, the problem cannot be solved.
Because infinitely many triangles can have the same two side lengths! Without knowing an angle, you cannot determine the unique shape of the triangle.
Choose "Cannot be solved" as your answer. It's perfectly valid in mathematics to recognize when insufficient information is given!
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