Getting Into It Alternate Investigation
Completion requirements
Lesson 1: Similar Polygons - Getting Into It Alternate Investigation
Getting into It
Alternate Investigation
If you are unable to access the Similar Right Triangles applet, complete the following activity.
The following three triangles are similar.
-
Knowing that the three triangles are similar, what must be true about the three angles
, 
, and 
, and the three angles 
, 
, and 
?
-
Recall that
represents the distance between points 
and
. Calculate the value of the
ratios 
, 
, and 
. What do you notice?
-
Predict a relationship between
, 
, and 
. Calculate the value of these ratios to check your prediction.
-
Suppose
is drawn similar to 
. If 
, what is 
?
In this activity, you may have noticed that the ratio of corresponding side lengths of similar triangles is always the same. Take a look at the diagram below showing three similar triangles. All three of the red sides correspond and all three of the blue sides correspond. Dividing the blue length of one triangle by the red length of the same triangle will give the same value for any of the three triangles.
2014 © Alberta Distance Learning Centre