SSA Exploration
- Author:
- Julian Ornelas, dgibson
In the exploration below:
1) You will explore the Side-Side-Angle (SSA) case. If two sides and a non-included ("not in between") angle of one triangle are congruent to the corresponding two sides and non-included angle of another, must the two triangles be congruent?
2) Segments A'B' and B'C' are fixed to match the lengths of their corresponding objects, and the angle at point C' is fixed to be congruent to angle BCA. You are able to manipulate the other sides and angles.
3) Experiment by moving the points around in order to test the theory that SSA is a criteria for triangle congruence.
Answer the following questions on binder paper:
4) Is it possible to make the second triangle different than the first, or are the two triangles always congruent?
5) Based on your answer to #4, is SSA a valid "shortcut" for triangle congruence?