Asked by doodle bob

3 connecting lines are shown. Line D F is horizontal. Line D E is about half the length of line D F. Line F E is about one-third of the length of line D F.
Which inequality explains why these three segments cannot be used to construct a triangle?

EF + FD > DE
ED + EF < DF
ED + EF > DF
EF + FD < DE

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Answer: ED + EF < DF.

Explanation: If DF = 1, then DE ≈ 0.5 and EF ≈ 0.333, so DE + EF ≈ 0.833 < DF. The triangle inequality requires the sum of any two sides to be greater than the third, so these segments cannot form a triangle.