McGraw Hill Integrated II, 2012
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McGraw Hill Integrated II, 2012 View details
3. Proving Triangles Congruent-SSS, SAS
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Exercise 15 Page 359

Use the definition of an angle bisector. Also, notice that △ XYW and △ ZYW have a side in common.

See solution.

Practice makes perfect

Since △ XYZ is equilateral, we get XY ≅ ZY ≅ XZ.

We are told that WY bisects ∠ XYZ, which means that ∠ XYW ≅ ∠ ZYW. Additionally, WY is a common side for both △ XYW and △ ZYW.

By the Reflexive Property of Congruent Segments we have WY ≅ WY. cc XY ≅ ZY & Side ∠XYW ≅ ∠ZYW & Included Angle YW ≅ YW & Side By applying the Side-Angle-Side (SSS) Congruence Postulate we get △ XYW ≅ △ ZYW, and so XW≅ ZW. We can summarize this proof in a paragraph as follows.

Completed Proof

Given: & △ XYZ is equilateral & WY bisects ∠ XYZ Prove: & XW≅ ZW Proof: Since △ XYZ is equilateral we get XY ≅ ZY. Next, WY is a common side for both △ XYW and △ ZYW, and by the Reflexive Property of Congruent Segments we get WY ≅ WY. Besides, WY bisects ∠ XYZ, which implies ∠ XYW ≅ ∠ ZYW. Thus, by the Side-Angle-Side (SSS) Congruence Postulate we get △ XYW ≅ △ ZYW and so, XW≅ ZW.