Question

Mary is going to the bookstore. Her house is located 8 miles north and 12 miles west of the bookstore, as shown.

If she walks straight from her house to the bookstore, what is the shortest distance from her house to the bookstore?

Round your answer to the nearest tenth of a mile.

Answer 1

The shortest distance from her house to the bookstore is 14.4 miles

Explanation:

On her way to the bookstore from her house, Mary travels 8 miles north and 12 miles west.

The shortest distance from her house to the bookstore is by following a straight line that happens to be the hypotenuse of a right triangle whose legs are the perpendicular distances traveled.

We apply Pythagora's Theorem to find the hypotenuse c:

`c^2=a^2+b^2`

`c^2=8^2+12^2`

`c^2=64+144=208`

`c=√(208)=14.4`

The shortest distance from her house to the bookstore is 14.4 miles