Question

Officer Ron drove his police car 30 km east and then 250 km south. How far is he from his starting point?​

Answer 1

`\large \boxed{\text{251.7 km}}`

Explanation:

Officer Ron is driving along the sides of a right triangle, so we can use Pythagoras' Theorem to calculate the distance from his starting point.

`\begin{array}{rcl}x^(2) & = & y^(2) + z^(2)\\& = & 30^(2) + 250^(2)\\& = & 900 + 62500\\& = & 63400\\x & = & √(63400)\\& \approx & \mathbf{251.7}\\\end{array}\\\text{Officer Ron is $\large \boxed{\textbf{251.7 km}}$ from his starting point}`