Question

While standing in line for the water fountain, Maura sees her lab partner 9 feet ahead of her and her best friend 3 feet to her right. Maura wants to go ask her lab partner a question, then go chat with her friend, and finally return to the water fountain line. How far will Maura have to walk in all? If necessary, round to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

Maura will have to walk a total distance of 21.5 feet.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the total distance Maura will have to walk, we need to calculate the distances she needs to walk to her lab partner, her friend, and back to the water fountain line.

First, we need to find the distance between Maura and her lab partner. This distance is represented by the hypotenuse of a right triangle, with Maura's position as one of the legs and her lab partner's position as the other leg. Using the Pythagorean theorem, we can find the distance:

d = sqrt(9^2 + 3^2) = sqrt(90) = 9.5 feet (rounded to the nearest tenth).

Next, Maura needs to walk to her friend, which is a distance of 3 feet.

Finally, she needs to walk back to the water fountain line, which is the same distance as her initial position, 9 feet.

Therefore, Maura will have to walk a total distance of 9.5 + 3 + 9 = 21.5 feet (rounded to the nearest tenth).

Answer 2

To determine how far Maura will have to walk in total, we need to consider the distances involved in each step of her movement.

1. Maura sees her lab partner 9 feet ahead of her. If she wants to reach her lab partner, she needs to walk straight ahead for 9 feet.

2. After talking to her lab partner, Maura wants to chat with her friend who is 3 feet to her right. This means she needs to move sideways by 3 feet.

3. Finally, Maura wants to return to the water fountain line. Since she moved to the right to meet her friend, she needs to walk back to the left by the same distance, which is another 3 feet.

To calculate the total distance, we add up the distances from each step:

9 feet (to reach her lab partner) + 3 feet (to move sideways to her friend) + 3 feet (to return to the water fountain line) = 15 feet

Therefore, Maura will have to walk a total distance of 15 feet in all.

Step-by-step explanation: