Question 23·Medium·Lines, Angles, and Triangles
In isosceles triangle , the sides and are congruent. If , what is the measure of ?
For isosceles triangle questions, first identify which sides are equal and then match them to the angles opposite those sides—those are the equal angles. Next, decide whether the given angle is a base angle or the vertex angle (between the equal sides). Use the fact that the three interior angles add to to write a simple equation in one variable for the unknown angle, and solve quickly, double-checking any arithmetic like subtraction from 180 and division by 2.
Hints
Identify the special triangle feature
Focus on the fact that triangle is isosceles with . Which angles must be equal when those two sides are equal?
Locate the vertex angle and the base angles
The equal sides and meet at vertex . That makes the angle at the vertex angle. Which side is the base, and where are the base angles located?
Use the angle sum and set up an equation
Let represent the measure of each base angle. Write an equation using the fact that all three angles in a triangle add up to , then solve for .
Desmos Guide
Compute the base angle measure
In Desmos, type the expression (180 - 68) / 2 on a new line. The value that Desmos outputs is the measure of each base angle, including .
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify which angles are equal in the isosceles triangle
In an isosceles triangle, the angles opposite the equal sides are equal.
Here, sides and are congruent and meet at vertex , so is the vertex of the isosceles triangle. That means the base is side , and therefore the base angles are the ones at and :
- (at )
- (at )
These two base angles are congruent (have the same measure).
Use the triangle angle sum to find the total of the two base angles
The sum of the interior angles of any triangle is .
We are given that . This is the angle at (the vertex angle).
Let be the measure of each base angle. Then the three angles are:
- Vertex angle at :
- Base angle at :
- Base angle at :
So we write the equation:
Simplify:
Now solve for :
Find the measure of one base angle
We found that , so divide both sides by 2 to get one base angle:
So , one of the base angles, measures .