Question

Harold rides his bike 33 km south and then 56 km west. How far is the shortest distance from his starting point?

Answer 1

65 km

Step-by-step explanation

Let's do a diagram of the path Harold took,

As we can see, the path forms a right triangle where the shortest distance from the starting point, d, is the hypotenuse. Using the Pythagorean theorem we can find d,

`d=\sqrt[]{33^2+56^2}=\sqrt[]{1089+3136}=\sqrt[]{4225}=65`

Hence, the shortest distance from his starting point is 65 km.