📘 Lesson 4 of 16 · Geometry

🔺 Triangles

A triangle is the simplest possible polygon, with just three sides and three angles — yet it's central to almost every area of geometry and trigonometry.

Course progress: 25%

01 Key Concepts

Triangle Angle Sum

The three interior angles of any triangle always add up to exactly 180°.

Classifying by Sides

Equilateral (all 3 sides equal), isosceles (exactly 2 sides equal), scalene (no sides equal).

Classifying by Angles

Acute triangle (all angles < 90°), right triangle (one angle = 90°), obtuse triangle (one angle > 90°).

The Triangle Inequality

The sum of the lengths of any two sides of a triangle must be greater than the length of the third side, or the triangle can't exist.

The Pythagorean Theorem

For a right triangle with legs a and b and hypotenuse c: a^2 + b^2 = c^2.

adjacent = 4 opposite = 3 hypotenuse = 5 θ A 3-4-5 right triangle: 3² + 4² = 5²

02 Key Formulas

03 Solved Examples

Example 1 A triangle has angles 50° and 70°. Find the third angle.
  1. All three angles sum to 180°.
  2. 180 - 50 - 70.
Answer: 60°
Example 2 A right triangle has legs 3 and 4. Find the hypotenuse.
  1. Apply the Pythagorean theorem: c^2 = a^2+b^2 = 3^2+4^2 = 9+16 = 25.
  2. c = sqrt(25).
Answer: c = 5
Example 3 Can a triangle have sides 2, 3, and 10?
  1. Check the triangle inequality: 2+3=5, which must be greater than the third side.
  2. 5 is not greater than 10.
Answer: No, this triangle cannot exist

04 Practice Questions

1A triangle has angles 60° and 60°. Find the third angle.
60°
2A right triangle has legs 6 and 8. Find the hypotenuse.
10
3Classify a triangle with sides 5, 5, 5.
Equilateral
4Classify a triangle with sides 4, 4, 7.
Isosceles
5Can a triangle have sides 1, 2, 3?
No, since 1+2=3 is not greater than 3

📄 Triangles — Downloadable Worksheet

10 questions with a full answer key. Grab the PDF to print, or try the interactive version in your browser.