Question

Starting from home, you drive a certain distance south to Best Buy to get a new monitor for your computer. You then drive 5 miles west to return that awful shirt your mother bought you for your birthday. You then drive 25 miles home. How far is it from your home to Best Buy?

Answer 1

To solve this problem, we can use the Pythagorean theorem, which states that in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse (the longest side) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.

In this case, we can consider the distance from home to Best Buy as the hypotenuse, and the distance traveled west and south as the other two sides.

Let's call the distance from home to Best Buy "x". Then, using the Pythagorean theorem:

x^2 = (distance south)^2 + (distance west)^2

We know that the distance west is 5 miles, and the distance home is 25 miles. We don't know the distance south, so let's call that "y".

Then we have:

x^2 = y^2 + 5^2

25^2 = y^2 + 5^2

Solving for y, we get:

y^2 = 25^2 - 5^2

y^2 = 600

y = sqrt(600)

y = 24.49 (rounded to two decimal places)

Now we can plug in y to find x:

x^2 = y^2 + 5^2

x^2 = 24.49^2 + 5^2

x^2 = 625.12

x = sqrt(625.12)

x = 25.00 (rounded to two decimal places)

Therefore, the distance from home to Best Buy is approximately 25 miles.

Explanation: