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25 votes
25 votes
two sisters set sail on two different boats. One travels north for 32 km, and the other travels east 44 km, Once they dock at their destinations, how far apart are they?

User Tom Faltesek
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1 Answer

18 votes
18 votes

Answer:

54.4 kilometers apart

Explanation:

Looking at a compass, it can be found that the direction North and the direction East form a right angle (90 degrees).

This scenario can be depicted as a triangle, where the sisters' travel routes are the legs and their distance apart is the hypotenuse.

The hypotenuse can be found by the Pythagorean Theorem:


32^2 + 44^2 = c^2

Solve for c:


1024 + 1936 = c^2\\2960 = c^2\\\\c = 54.4 km

So, the sisters are 54.4 kilometers apart.

User CapelliC
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2.6k points