How to find an angle in an acute / obtuse isosceles triangle - PSAT Math

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Question

If the average (arithmetic mean) of two noncongruent angles of an isosceles triangle is , which of the following is the measure of one of the angles of the triangle?

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Answer

Since the triangle is isosceles, we know that 2 of the angles (that sum up to 180) must be equal. The question states that the noncongruent angles average 55°, thus providing us with a system of two equations:

Solving for x and y by substitution, we get x = 70° and y = 40° (which average out to 55°).

70 + 70 + 40 equals 180 also checks out.

Since 70° is not an answer choice for us, we know that the 40° must be one of the angles.

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