Which similarity criterion proves the two triangles are similar?

triangle ABC coordinates are point A(-3,-2), point B(4,-2), point C(-3,3)
triangle A'B'C' coordinate are point A'(-6,-2),point B'(8,-2), point C'(-6,8)

1 answer

To determine if the two triangles \( \triangle ABC \) and \( \triangle A'B'C' \) are similar, we can use the criterion of proportionality of the lengths of corresponding sides.

  1. Calculate the lengths of the sides of \( \triangle ABC \):

    • Length \( AB \): \[ AB = \sqrt{(4 - (-3))^2 + (-2 - (-2))^2} = \sqrt{(4 + 3)^2 + 0^2} = \sqrt{7^2} = 7 \]

    • Length \( BC \): \[ BC = \sqrt{((-3) - 4)^2 + (3 - (-2))^2} = \sqrt{(-7)^2 + 5^2} = \sqrt{49 + 25} = \sqrt{74} \]

    • Length \( CA \): \[ CA = \sqrt{((-3) - (-3))^2 + (3 - (-2))^2} = \sqrt{0^2 + (3 + 2)^2} = \sqrt{5^2} = 5 \]

    So, the side lengths of \( \triangle ABC \) are:

    • \( AB = 7 \)
    • \( BC = \sqrt{74} \)
    • \( CA = 5 \)
  2. Calculate the lengths of the sides of \( \triangle A'B'C' \):

    • Length \( A'B' \): \[ A'B' = \sqrt{(8 - (-6))^2 + (-2 - (-2))^2} = \sqrt{(8 + 6)^2 + 0^2} = \sqrt{14^2} = 14 \]

    • Length \( B'C' \): \[ B'C' = \sqrt{((-6) - 8)^2 + (8 - (-2))^2} = \sqrt{(-14)^2 + 10^2} = \sqrt{196 + 100} = \sqrt{296} \]

    • Length \( C'A' \): \[ C'A' = \sqrt{((-6) - (-6))^2 + (8 - (-2))^2} = \sqrt{0^2 + (8 + 2)^2} = \sqrt{10^2} = 10 \]

    So, the side lengths of \( \triangle A'B'C' \) are:

    • \( A'B' = 14 \)
    • \( B'C' = \sqrt{296} \)
    • \( C'A' = 10 \)
  3. Check the proportionality:

Now we will check the ratios of the corresponding sides:

  • For \( AB \) and \( A'B' \): \[ \frac{AB}{A'B'} = \frac{7}{14} = \frac{1}{2} \]

  • For \( BC \) and \( B'C' \): \[ \frac{BC}{B'C'} = \frac{\sqrt{74}}{\sqrt{296}} = \frac{\sqrt{74}}{\sqrt{4 \times 74}} = \frac{1}{2} \]

  • For \( CA \) and \( C'A' \): \[ \frac{CA}{C'A'} = \frac{5}{10} = \frac{1}{2} \]

Since all corresponding sides have the same ratio: \[ \frac{AB}{A'B'} = \frac{BC}{B'C'} = \frac{CA}{C'A'} = \frac{1}{2} \]

This shows that the two triangles \( \triangle ABC \) and \( \triangle A'B'C' \) are similar by the Side-Side-Side (SSS) similarity criterion.

Thus, the similarity criterion that proves \( \triangle ABC \sim \triangle A'B'C' \) is the proportionality of the corresponding sides.