Questions: On Your Own
3. MP Reason A graphic designer wants to reproduce the logo of a mountain-climbing club for some club stationery. The logo is a triangle with the angles shown.
A. The designer wants the base to be 2 inches long. How should the triangle be drawn?
Transcript text: On Your Own
3. MP Reason A graphic designer wants to reproduce the logo of a mountain-climbing club for some club stationery. The logo is a triangle with the angles shown.
A. The designer wants the base to be 2 inches long. How should the triangle be drawn?
Solution
Solution Steps
Step 1: Analyze the given information
The problem states that the triangle has angles of 50°, 60°, and 70°. The designer wants the base of the triangle to be 2 inches long. The problem asks how the triangle should be drawn. Since all three angles are given, and one side is specified, the triangle can be uniquely drawn.
Step 2: Determine the position of the base
It does not matter which side is chosen as the base. Suppose the side opposite the 70° angle is chosen as the base. Let the sides opposite the 50°, 60°, and 70° angles be _a_, _b_, and _c_ respectively. So, _c_ = 2 inches.
Step 3: Use the Law of Sines to solve for the other two sides
The Law of Sines states that the ratio of the length of a side to the sine of the angle opposite that side is the same for all three sides of a triangle. Thus:
a / sin(50°) = b / sin(60°) = c / sin(70°)
We know c = 2, so we can find _a_ and _b_ using:
a = c * sin(50°) / sin(70°) ≈ 2 * 0.766 / 0.940 ≈ 1.63 inches
b = c * sin(60°) / sin(70°) ≈ 2 * 0.866 / 0.940 ≈ 1.84 inches
Final Answer:
The triangle should be drawn with sides of approximately 1.63 inches, 1.84 inches, and 2 inches, opposite the angles 50°, 60°, and 70° respectively.