3155.21 – Jasmine and Biscuit

Jasmine's dog Biscuit slipped her leash and ran xx meters due west before spotting a yogurt chip, turned 150 degrees to her left, and scurried 3 meters in the new direction to grab it. If she finished at a point 3\sqrt{3} meters from her starting point, then xx is:

  1. 3\sqrt{3}

  2. 232\sqrt{3}

  3. 32\dfrac{3}{2}

  4. 33

  5. can't be determined

Solution

The answer is (e). Two distinct scenarios are depicted in parts (a) and (b) of the figure. The routes in the two parts are triangles satisfying SSA but they are NOT congruent. This is why SSA is not sufficient to prove congruence.