can somebody explain me this sentence in the given context, particularly vertex and altitude please? i didn't study maths in english, so an ELI5 would be incredible

it's part of an introduction to a book called "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Mathematics" by Brendan W. Sullivan

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link to the book, for those interested in reading further:

https://www.math.cmu.edu/~jmackey/151_128/bws_book.pdf

C - vertex, CD - altitude

ah, superb

❤️

oops may be I wrong, and that vertex is D.

It's better to read about such in native language :D. Sorry.

As I understand this (non-native myself) it's asking for the right triangle, C-D-A.

The vertex of the right angle of that triangle is D. The altitud, should be D-A, since is the longer side.

So it should look like: A

D C

Again, not native, so I might have gotten this all wrong.

The vertex is the point where the two line segments meet to form the 90 degree angle. (The little square). The point labeled capital D on the smaller triangle.

The altitude I believe refers to the “opposite” side of the right triangle which would be the side labeled lower case d in the smaller triangle.

Leaving the “adjacent” side as the line segment labeled lower case f.

Hope this helps🤙🏼

Wouldn't C be a right angel