Sue and Pam are sisters, but they live far from each other. They both
want a garden at their respective homes, and they decide they want to
build identical flower gardens that are in the shape of a triangle.
They spend a lot of time emailing and talking on the phone, trying to
figure out how to make these triangular gardens exactly the same.
• Sue suggests that they each make their gardens with brick walls
outlining the gardens, and they should make sure all three angles
of the two triangles are the same: 30, 60, and 90. Sue asserts
that this will make their gardens congruent.
Pam likes the idea of the wall, but instead she thinks that they
should make their triangles equal by making one wall 7 feet long
with a 30 angle attached to it. Sue says the other two walls
will match up to make a triangle, and that their triangles will
be equal.
The two women can't agree on the best method. They hire you to help
them with the design.
Determine if either of their methods will create congruent
triangular gardens. Use your congruent triangle theorems, like
SSS, ASA, SAS, to decide.
If you don't think that a method will work, you must explain why
the method will not work.
How do you think Sue and Pam should create congruent triangular
gardens?