Question

You walk 3 blocks south and 2 blocks west to the museum. You find the length of the side that forms a right triangle with your path. What actual distance did you find? Is this useful? Explain.

Answer 1

The length of the side forming a right triangle with your path can be found using the Pythagorean theorem. The length of the hypotenuse is shorter than the distance you walked because you took a non-direct route.

Step-by-step explanation:

The length of the side that forms a right triangle with your path can be found using the Pythagorean theorem. In this case, you walked 3 blocks south and 2 blocks west. So, the lengths of the legs of the triangle are 3 blocks and 2 blocks. Using the theorem, we can find the length of the hypotenuse, which represents the straight-line distance from your starting point to the museum. The length of the hypotenuse is √(3 blocks)^2 + (2 blocks)^2 = √13 blocks.

However, you mentioned walking 14 blocks, which is the sum of the lengths of the two legs. This is longer than the straight-line distance because you took a non-direct route.