Geometry Word Problems Involving Perimeter

Example 1:
A triangle has a perimeter of 50. If 2 of its sides are equal and the third side is 5 more than the
equal sides, what is the length of the third side?
Solution:
Step 1: Assign variables:
Let x = length of the equal side
Sketch the figure

Step 2: Write out the formula for perimeter of triangle.

P = sum of the three sides
Step 3: Plug in the values from the question and from the sketch.
50 = x + x + x+ 5
Combine like terms
50 = 3x + 5
Isolate variable x
3x = 50 – 5
3x = 45
x =15
Be careful! The question requires the length of the third side.
The length of third side = 15 + 5 =20
Answer: The length of third side is 20
Geometry Word Problems Involving Area
Example 1:
A rectangle is 4 times as long as it is wide. If the length is increased by 4 inches and the width is
decreased by 1 inch, the area will be 60 square inches. What were the dimensions of the original
rectangle?
Solution:
Step 1: Assign variables:
Let x = original width of rectangle
Sketch the figure

Step 2: Write out the formula for area of rectangle.

A = lw
Step 3: Plug in the values from the question and from the sketch.
60 = (4x + 4)(x –1)
Use distributive property to remove brackets
60 = 4x2 – 4x + 4x – 4
Put in Quadratic Form
4x2 – 4 – 60 = 0
4x2 – 64 = 0
This quadratic can be rewritten as a difference of two squares
(2x)2 – (8)2 = 0
Factorize difference of two squares
(2x)2 – (8)2 = 0
(2x – 8)(2x + 8) = 0
We get two values for x.

Since x is a dimension, it would be positive. So, we take x = 4

The question requires the dimensions of the original rectangle.
The width of the original rectangle is 4.
The length is 4 times the width = 4 × 4 = 16
Answer: The dimensions of the original rectangle are 4 and 16.
Geometry Word Problems involving Angles
Example 1:
In a quadrilateral two angles are equal. The third angle is equal to the sum of the two equal
angles. The fourth angle is 60° less than twice the sum of the other three angles. Find the
measures of the angles in the quadrilateral.
Solution:
Step 1: Assign variables:
Let x = size of one of the two equal angles
Sketch the figure
Step 2: Write down the sum of angles in quadrilateral.
The sum of angles in a quadrilateral is 360°
Step 3: Plug in the values from the question and from the sketch.
360 = x + x + (x + x) + 2(x + x + x + x) – 60
Combine like terms
360 = 4x + 2(4x) – 60
360 = 4x + 8x – 60
360 = 12x – 60
Isolate variable x
12x = 420
x = 35
The question requires the values of all the angles.
Substituting x for 35, you will get: 35, 35, 70, 220
Answer: The values of the angles are 35°, 35°, 70° and 220°.

Triangle Problems
Triangle problems with detailed solutions.
Problem 1: The
right triangle shown
below has an area
Top of Form
of 25. Find its
hypotenuse.
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Solution to
Bottom of Form Problem 1:
• Since the x
coordinates of
points A and B
are equal,
segment AB is
parallel to the
y axis. Since
BC is
perpendicular
to AB then BC
is parallel to
the x axis and
therefore y, the
y coordinate of
point C is
equal to 3. We
now need to
find the x
coordinate x of
point C using
the area as
follows

area = 25 =
(1/2) d(A,B) *
d(B,C)

d(A,B) = 5

d(B,C) = |x - 2|

• We now
substitute
d(A,B) and
d(B,C) in the
area formula
above to
obtain.

25 = (1/2) (5) |
x - 2|

• We solve the
above as
follows

|x - 2| = 10
 x = 12 and x =
-8

• We select x =
12 since point
C is to the left
of point B and
therefore its x
coordinate is
greater than 2.

• We have the
coordinates of
point A and C
and we can
find the
hypotenuse
using the
distance
formula.

hypotenuse =
d(A,C) =
sqrt[ (12 - 2) 2
+ (3 - 8) 2 ]

= sqrt(125) = 5
sqrt(5)
Problem 2: Triangle
ABC shown below is
inscribed inside a
square of side 20
cm. Find the area of
the triangle
Solution to
Problem 2:
• The area is
given by

area of triangle
= (1/2) base *
height

= (1/2)(20)(20)
= 200 cm 2
Problem 3: Find the
area of an
equilateral triangle
that has sides equal
to 10 cm.

Solution to
Problem 3:
• Let A,B and C
be the vertices
of the
equilateral
triangle and M
the midpoint of
segment BC.
Since the
triangle is
equilateral,
AMC is a right
triangle. Let us
find h the
height of the
triangle using
Pythagorean
theorem.
 h 2 + 5 2 = 10 2

• Solve the
above
equation for h.

h = 5 sqrt(3)
cm
• We now find
the area using
the formula.

area = (1/2)*
base * height =
(1/2)(10)(5
sqrt(3))

= 25 sqrt(3) cm
2

Problem 4: An
isosceles triangle
has angle A 30
degrees greater
than angle B. Find
all angles of the
triangle.

Solution to
Problem 4:
• An isosceles
triangle has
two angles
equal in size.
In this problem
A is greater
than B
therefore
angles B and
C are equal in
size. Since
angle A is 30
greater than
angle B then A
= B + 30 o. The
sum of all
angles in a
triangle is
equal to 180 o.
 (B+30) + B + B
= 180

• Solve the
above
equation for B.

B = 50 o

• The sizes of
the three
angles are

A = B + 30 =
80 o

C = B = 50 o
Problem 5: Triangle
ABC, shown below,
has an area of 15
mm 2. Side AC has a
length of 6 mm and
side AB has a length
of 8 mm and angle
BAC is obtuse. Find
angle BAC to the
and find length of
side BC.

Solution to
Problem 5:
• Let the size of
angle BAC = t.
 One of the
many formulas
for the area
triangle is.

area = 15 =
(1/2) (AC)(AB)
sin(t)

• Solve for sin(t)

to obtain.

sin(t) = 30 /
(8*6) = 0.625

• Solve for t
above and
take the
solution that
gives t obtuse

t = Pi -
arcsin(0.625)

• Convert t to
degrees to
obtain

t
(approximately
) = 141.3 o

• We now use
the cosine rule
to calculate the
length of side
BC

BC 2 = AB 2 +
AC 2 - 2(AB)
(AC)cos(t)

= 64 + 36 -
2(8)
(6)cos(141.3 o)

BC = 13.23
mm.