Question

Keith left his house, rode his bike 3 miles along one road, took a 90 degree turn, and rode 3 miles to the local swimming pool. If he had ridden directly to the pool, how much distance would he have saved? Round the answer to the nearest tenth of a mile.

Pick one;
1.2 miles
1.8 miles
2.5 miles 
4.2 miles
(Ps: I can't copy the picture but its a right triangle.)

Answer 1

1.8 miles

Explanation:

Answer 2

For this case we can model the problem as a rectangle triangle.
We know:
Length of the sides of the triangle
We want to know:
Length of the hypotenuse
Using the Pythagorean theorem we have:

`d = √(3^2 + 3^2)`
Rewriting the expression we have:

`d = √(2(3^2))`

`d = 3√(2)`

`d = 4.2 miles`
Then, the distance that he would have saved if he travels directly is:

`3 + 3 - 4.2 = 1.8 miles`
Answer:
he would have saved:
1.8 miles