# Difference between revisions of "1986 AHSME Problems/Problem 29"

## Problem

Two of the altitudes of the scalene triangle $ABC$ have length $4$ and $12$. If the length of the third altitude is also an integer, what is the biggest it can be?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 4\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 5\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 6\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 7\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ \text{none of these}$

## Solution

Assume we have a scalene triangle $ABC$. Arbitrarily, let $12$ be the height to base $AB$ and $4$ be the height to base $AC$. Due to area equivalences, the base $AC$ must be three times the length of $AB$.

Let the base $AB$ be $x$, thus making $AC = 3x$. Thus, setting the final height to base $BC$ to $h$, we note that (by area equivalence) $\frac{BC \cdot h}{2} = \frac{3x \cdot 4}{2} = 6x$. Thus, $h = \frac{12x}{BC}$. We note that to maximize $h$ we must minimize $BC$. Using the triangle inequality, $BC + AB > AC$, thus $BC + x > 3x$ or $BC > 2x$. The minimum value of $BC$ is $2x$, which would output $h = 6$. However, because $BC$ must be larger than $2x$, the minimum integer height must be $5$.

$\fbox{B}$ ~ Bobby132