A triangle has two sides of length 12 and 16 What is the smalles!possible whole number length for the third side? A to B 7 D 5

## Step 1<br />The problem involves the triangle inequality theorem, which states that the sum of the lengths of any two sides of a triangle must be greater than the length of the third side.<br /><br />## Step 2<br />Given the lengths of two sides of the triangle as 12 and 16, we need to find the smallest possible whole number length for the third side.<br /><br />## Step 3<br />According to the triangle inequality theorem, the third side must be less than the sum of the other two sides, which is \(12 + 16 = 28\).<br /><br />## Step 4<br />However, the third side must also be greater than the absolute difference of the other two sides, which is \(|12 - 16| = 4\).<br /><br />## Step 5<br />Therefore, the third side must be a whole number greater than 4 and less than 28.