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jmc

prealgebra senior

Problem

A -- triangle is drawn on the exterior of an equilateral triangle so the hypotenuse of the right triangle is one side of the equilateral triangle. If the shorter leg of the right triangle is 6 units, what is the distance between the two vertices that the triangles do not have in common? Express your answer in simplest radical form.
problem
Solution
Multiply the short leg of the right triangle by to find that the length of the longer leg is units. Double the short leg of the right triangle to find that the length of the hypotenuse of the right triangle is 12 units. Since the hypotenuse of the right triangle is a side of the equilateral triangle, the side length of the equilateral triangle is also 12 units. By the Pythagorean theorem, the distance between the two vertices that the two triangles do not have in common is units.
Final answer
6\sqrt{7}