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Triangle from a fixed loaf and a randomly cut one

Question

You have two bread loaves of lengths 55 and 88. The length-88 loaf is cut once at a point chosen uniformly along it. What is the probability that the length-55 loaf together with the two pieces can serve as the sides of a triangle?

Short answer

5/85/8. With cut point X∼Unif(0,8)X\sim\text{Unif}(0,8) the sides are 55, XX, 8−X8-X. The triangle inequalities reduce to X<6.5X<6.5 and X>1.5X>1.5, an interval of length 55 out of 88.

Adapted from QuantQuestions.io; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.

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