Find Area of a Triangle w/ Square Root Problem

In summary, the conversation discussed finding the area of a right triangle using the formula A=1/2bh. The person encountered difficulty due to the use of square roots and had to buy a scientific calculator to evaluate the expression for the area. It was also mentioned that using a computer's built-in calculator could have been an alternative.
  • #1
P_Swift
2
0
sorry, i know this isn't that difficult of a problem but the square root is messing me up. OK I am told to find the area of a right triangle. Now i know the area of a right triangle is A=1/2bh but i haven't encountered this type of problem before. OK so now A=1/2(15)(15 square root of 3), how would i go about figuring this out?
 
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  • #2
A=1/2(15)(15 square root of 3),
Your expression is somewhat confusing.
how would i go about figuring this out?
What is "this" in your question?
 
  • #3
nevermind i got it, i needed to find the area of that expression. I went out and bought a scientific calculator and...funny that makes things a lot easier. haha
 
  • #4
Well, you didn't "find the area of that expression"! "Expressions" don't have areas, only plane geometric figures do. What you did was evaluate the expression which gives the area of the triangle. (I have a friend who says mathematicians are "anal-retentive"- but she is basing that on a very small sample!)

Yes, a calculator is certainly the best way to do such a calculation.

By the way- since you are putting this on the internet, you clearly have access to a computer and "Windows", at least, comes with a "calculator".
You could have used that!
 

1. How do you find the area of a triangle with a square root problem?

To find the area of a triangle with a square root problem, you will need to use the formula A = √(s(s-a)(s-b)(s-c)), where s is the semi-perimeter of the triangle and a, b, and c are the lengths of the three sides. To find the semi-perimeter, add all three sides together and divide by 2. Then, plug in the values into the formula to calculate the area.

2. What is the purpose of using a square root in the area of a triangle formula?

The square root in the formula for finding the area of a triangle helps to account for the fact that the area of a triangle is always a positive value. Without the square root, the formula would only give the absolute value of the area, which could be negative for certain triangles.

3. Can the square root in the formula be simplified?

Yes, the square root in the formula can be simplified if the values inside the parentheses can be simplified before taking the square root. For example, if the values inside the parentheses are perfect squares, you can take the square root of each individual value and then multiply them together to simplify the overall square root.

4. What happens if one of the sides of the triangle is negative?

If one of the sides of the triangle is negative, you will still be able to calculate the area using the formula. However, the result will be an imaginary or complex number, which may not have a real-world meaning in terms of the triangle's area.

5. Is there a simpler way to find the area of a triangle without using the square root formula?

Yes, there are other formulas for finding the area of a triangle, such as A = 1/2 * base * height or A = 1/2 * a * b * sin(C), where base and height refer to the perpendicular sides and C refers to the angle between them. However, the square root formula is more comprehensive and can be used for any type of triangle, not just right triangles.

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