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tarek99
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the max area of a triangle is that of a Right ANGLE triangle...

so lets see the max area of the triangle 3:4:5 so you have 6:8:10

so the max area would be 1/2 *6*8=24..so the max area possible is 24..which means E is not a possible area.

I am going with E
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tarek99
If a triangle has sides 8, 10, and z, which of the following cannot be the area of the triangle?

(A) 3
(B) 6
(C) 12
(D) 24
(E) 46


would you please explain a fast method to solve this problem? this can be time consuming if you want to start experimenting with different combination.

thanks

The max. possible area of this triangle is 1/2(8x10) = 40 if these two sides are base and perpendicular. Therefore 46 cannot be the area

The third side is greater than 2 but smaller than 18.
The area is determined by height not by the third side.
Hight could vary from 0 to 10.
More precisely 0 < height <= 10.
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fresinha12
the max area of a triangle is that of a Right ANGLE triangle...

so lets see the max area of the triangle 3:4:5 so you have 6:8:10

so the max area would be 1/2 *6*8=24..so the max area possible is 24..which means E is not a possible area.

I am going with E

wow, I LOVE your explanation! Thank you so much, and thank you everyone for the great contribution. OA is E.
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There's seems to be different theories that's getting to the right answer, E, which is a good thing.

But then these different theories do not agree on what is the max area of a triangle. That is not good.

I saw the max area as either 32 vs 24 vs 40.

Then there's selvae's explanation, which I thought seemed clever. Why is that wrong?



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