Rectangle Perimeter with Congruent Triangles: Using 5 and 3 Units

Question

Look at the following rectangle:

AAABBBCCCDDDEEEFFFOOO53

ΔDEO ≅ ΔBFO

Calculate the perimeter of the rectangle ABCD.

Video Solution

Solution Steps

00:00 Calculate the perimeter of the rectangle
00:06 Equal sides according to triangle congruence
00:12 The whole side equals the sum of its parts
00:21 Substitute appropriate values according to the given data, and calculate to find EF
00:29 Opposite sides are equal in a rectangle
00:39 Use the Pythagorean theorem in triangle BOF to find BF
00:50 Substitute appropriate values according to the given data and solve to find BF
01:02 Isolate BF
01:16 This is the value of segment BF
01:26 Use the congruence ratio to find ED
01:41 Sides are equal, as the whole side is equal and the segments are equal
01:46 The whole side equals the sum of its parts
01:51 Opposite sides are equal in a rectangle
01:56 The perimeter of the rectangle equals the sum of its sides
01:59 Substitute appropriate values and solve to find the perimeter
02:22 And this is the solution to the problem

Step-by-Step Solution

Based on the given data, we can claim that:

OF=OE=3 OF=OE=3

EF=6 EF=6

AB=EF=DC=6 AB=EF=DC=6

We'll find side BF using the Pythagorean theorem in triangle BFO:

OF2+BF2=BO2 OF^2+BF^2=BO^2

Let's substitute the known values into the formula:

32+BF2=52 3^2+BF^2=5^2

9+BF2=25 9+BF^2=25

BF2=259 BF^2=25-9

BF2=16 BF^2=16

Let's take the square root:

BF=4 BF=4

Since the triangles overlap:

BF=DE=4=FC BF=DE=4=FC

From this, we can calculate side BC:

BC=4+4=8 BC=4+4=8

Since in a rectangle, each pair of opposite sides are equal to each other, we can claim that AD also equals 8

Now we can calculate the perimeter of rectangle ABCD by adding all sides together:

6+8+6+8=12+16=28 6+8+6+8=12+16=28

Answer

28