Question

A home-made baseball diamond is in the shape of a square. The distance from base to base is 80 feet because of space constraints. How far does a catcher throw the ball from home plate to second base?

A. 80 feet
B. 40 feet
C. 40 square root of 2 feet
D. 80 square root of 2 feet

Answer 1

The Awnser is D) 80 square root of 2 feet

Answer 2

Call x the distance from home plate to second base.

There is a right triangle formed by homeplate, first base and second base. The sides of this triangle are 80 feet and 80 feet. The hypothenuse meets Pythagoras theorem:

x^2 = 80^2 + 80^2 = 2(80)^2
x = 80√2

Then the answer is the option D.