Question

Justin is driving home from work. He drove 35 miles south and 42 miles west. If Justin could drive a direct route to work, how long would his drive be?

Answer 1

The direct route distance that Justin would drive can be found using the Pythagorean theorem.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the direct route distance, you can use the Pythagorean theorem. The 35 miles south and 42 miles west forms a right-angle triangle. The direct route distance can be found by finding the hypotenuse of the triangle using the formula c = sqrt(a^2 + b^2).

In this case, a = 35 miles and b = 42 miles. Plugging these values into the formula, we get c = sqrt(35^2 + 42^2) = sqrt(1225 + 1764) = sqrt(2989) ≈ 54.7 miles.

Therefore, Justin's drive would be approximately 54.7 miles if he could drive a direct route.