Are these two triangles mathematically similar?
Show how you decide - OCR - GCSE Maths - Question 25 - 2019 - Paper 1
Question 25
Are these two triangles mathematically similar?
Show how you decide.
6 cm
10 cm
11 cm
15 cm
Not to scale
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Are these two triangles mathematically similar?
Show how you decide - OCR - GCSE Maths - Question 25 - 2019 - Paper 1
Step 1
Determine the side lengths of each triangle
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Answer
The first triangle has side lengths of 6 cm, 10 cm, and the hypotenuse can be found using the Pythagorean theorem: c=(62+102)=(36+100)=136≈11.66 cm
The second triangle has side lengths of 11 cm, 15 cm, and the hypotenuse can be calculated as follows: c=(112+152)=(121+225)=346≈18.6 cm
Step 2
Calculate the ratio of corresponding sides
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Answer
For the first triangle, the ratios of the sides are:
Ratio of the first triangle's shorter side (6 cm) to the second triangle's shorter side (11 cm): 116
Ratio of the first triangle's other side (10 cm) to the second triangle's other side (15 cm): 1510=32
Step 3
Compare the ratios
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Answer
Since the ratios (\frac{6}{11}) and (\frac{2}{3}) are not equal, the triangles are not mathematically similar.
Therefore, we conclude that:
These triangles are not similar because the ratios of their corresponding sides are not equal.