Question

Molly leaves her house at 10:15am to run errands. She drives

36 miles East into the hext town over to pick up her son's

birthday cake from the bakery there. Then she drives 39 miles

Southwest back into town. She stops at the post office before

heading back home to pick up her son's birthday present that

was sent to her PO box. How many more miles does she have

to drive home from the post office? Round your answer to

the nearest mile if necessary.

Answer 1

53 miles

Explanation:

Since Molly drives 36 miles East and then 39 miles south, these directions are perpendicular to each other and thus form a right-angles triangle with hypotenuse side, d ,the distance between the post office and Molly's home.

So, using Pythagoras' theorem, we find the distance d, between Molly's home and the post office.

So, d = √(36² + 39²)

= √(1296 + 1521)

= √2817

= 53.08 miles

≅ 53 miles to the nearest mile.

So, Molly has to drive 53 more miles to get home from the post office.