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How to Multiply the Sides of a Triangle by a Ratio

If you want to increase or decrease the overall size of a triangle, you can multiply the sides of the shape by a common factor. Two triangles that have corresponding sides that are smaller or greater according to the same ratio are said to be similar. Each side must be multiplied by the same ratio in order for the triangles to be similar. You may have to calculate similar triangles as an assignment in a high school or college geometry course.

Instructions

    • 1

      Multiply the first leg of a triangle by a given ratio. For example, consider a triangle that has legs of the following lengths: 3 inches, 4 inches and 5 inches. If you want to double the size of the triangle, you would multiply the first leg by 2. Therefore, the first leg of the similar triangle would be 6 inches long.

    • 2

      Multiply the second leg of the triangle by the same ratio factor. In this example, you would multiply the leg that is 4 inches long by a ratio factor of 2 to get a leg that's 8 inches long in the similar triangle.

    • 3

      Multiply the third leg of the triangle by the same ratio factor. In this example, you would multiply the 5-inch leg times 2 to get a leg of 10 inches for the similar triangle.

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