Download Article Show Download Article Finding the perimeter of a triangle means finding the distance around the triangle.[1] The simplest way to find the perimeter of a triangle is to add up the length of all of its sides, but if you don't know all of the side lengths you will need to calculate them first. This article will first teach you to find the perimeter of a triangle when you do know all three side lengths; this is the easiest and most common way. It will then teach you to find the perimeter of a right triangle when only two of the side lengths are known. Finally, it will teach you to find the perimeter of any triangle for which you know two side lengths and the angle measure between them (an "SAS Triangle"), using the Law of Cosines.
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ReferencesAbout This ArticleArticle SummaryX To find the perimeter of a triangle, use the formula perimeter = a + b + c, where a, b, and c are the lengths of the sides of the triangle. For example, if the length of each side of the triangle is 5, you would just add 5 + 5 + 5 and get 15. Therefore, the perimeter of the triangle is 15. If you only know the length of 2 of the triangle’s sides, you can still find the perimeter if it’s a right triangle, which means the triangle has one 90-degree angle. Just use the Pythagorean theorem, which is a^2+ b^2 = c^2, where a and b are the lengths of the known sides and c is the length of the unknown hypotenuse. For example, if the length of the known sides are 3 and 4, you would just add 3^2+ 4^2, or 9 + 16, and get 25. Then, you would take the square root of 25 to find c, which is 5. Therefore, the length of the unknown side is 5. Finally, add all of the side lengths together to find the perimeter. In this case you would add 3 + 4 + 5 and get 12. Therefore, the perimeter of the triangle is 12. If you want to learn how to solve the perimeter of your triangle if you only know 2 sides and an angle, keep reading the article! Did this summary help you? Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 1,682,437 times. Reader Success Stories
Did this article help you?What is the formula for finding the area of a right angle triangle?The formula for the area of a right-angle triangle is A = (½)×b×h square units.
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