A triangle has corners at (2 , 6 ), (4 ,7 ), and (1 ,5 ). What is the radius of the triangle's inscribed circle?

1 Answer
May 10, 2017

Simple. Find the centroid of the triangle and Measure the perpendicular distance from this point to any of the sides.

Explanation:

The centroid of the triangle can be found by the centroid formula:

x, y = (x_1+x_2+x_3)/3 , (y_1+y_2+y_3)/3

On plugging values, we get:

x=7/3

y=6

equation of any one line can be found using the formula:

y - y_1 = m(x - x_1)

Where m=(y_2 - y_1)/(x_2 - x_1)

On plugging in values, we get:

y - 6 = (x - 2)/2

2y - 12 = x - 2

x - 2y - 10 = 0

The formula for perpendicular distance from a point to a line is:

d=|Ax + By + C|/sqrt(A^2 + B^2

On plugging values, we get:

d = |7/3 - 10 - 10|/sqrt5

d = 7.9 cm

The radius of the circle is 7.9 cm