Final answer:
To find the distance from the mall to the park, we can break it down into two components: the horizontal distance and the vertical distance. By adding the distances and using the Pythagorean theorem, we can find the total distance.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the distance from the mall to the park, we can break it down into two components: the horizontal distance (east-west) and the vertical distance (north-south).
The horizontal distance can be found by adding the distance from the mall to the city center (3 miles west) with the distance from the city center to the park (4 miles east). This gives us a total horizontal distance of 3 + 4 = 7 miles.
The vertical distance can be found by adding the distance from the mall to the city center (2 miles south) with the distance from the city center to the park (5 miles north). This gives us a total vertical distance of 2 + 5 = 7 miles.
Using the Pythagorean theorem, we can find the total distance from the mall to the park by taking the square root of the sum of the horizontal distance squared and the vertical distance squared: √(7^2 + 7^2) = √(49 + 49) = √98 ≈ 9.9 miles.
Therefore, the distance from the mall to the park to the nearest tenth of a mile is approximately 9.9 miles.