Asked by 77

Two sides of an obtuse triangle measure 12 inches and 14 inches. The longest side measures 14 inches.

What is the greatest possible whole-number length of the unknown side?

2 inches
3 inches
7 inches
9 inches

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
For an obtuse triangle with longest side 14, we need 14^2 > 12^2 + x^2. So

196 > 144 + x^2 → x^2 < 52 → x < √52 ≈ 7.21.

Also triangle inequality gives x > 2. The greatest whole-number x less than 7.21 is 7.

Answer: 7 inches.