Which set of numbers can represent the side lengths, in inches, of an acute triangle?

For a triangle with sides a ≤ b ≤ c to be acute, it must satisfy a² + b² > c². For 5, 7, and 8, the triangle inequality holds because 5 + 7 > 8, and 5² + 7² = 74 > 8² = 64. The other choices either fail the acute-triangle test or are not triangles, so the set 5, 7, 8 is the correct choice.

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