Question

Kristen's school is due west of her house and due south of her friend Cooper's house. The

distance between the school and Cooper's house is 9 miles and the straight-line distance
between Kristen's house and Cooper's house is 10 miles. How far is Kristen's house from
school? If necessary, round to the nearest tenth.
miles

Answer 1

Kristen's house is 4.4 miles away from her school

Explanation:

Pythagora's Theorem

In any right triangle, the square of the measure of the hypotenuse is the sum of the squares of the legs. This can be expressed with the formula:

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

Where

c = Hypotenuse or largest side

a,b = Legs or shorter sides

The situation described in the problem forms a right triangle shown in the image below.

Applying Pythagora's Theorem :

`10^2=9^2+x^2`

Solving for x:

`x^2=10^2-9^2`

`x^2=100-81=19`

`x=√(19)=4.4`

Kristen's house is 4.4 miles away from her school