Question

You and your best friend are meeting at

Starbucks on the corner
of Asbury Avenue and
11th Street. Presently, you are on 11th Street
eight miles north of Starbucks. Meanwhile, your
best friend is on Asbury Avenue seven miles
west of Starbucks. How far away from each other
are you and your best friend? Round your
answer to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

10.6 miles

Explanation:

The corner where Starbucks is located could be considered to be the right angle in a right triangle having legs of 8 miles (distance to you) and 7 miles (distance to your friend). The straight-line distance (d) from you to your friend is the hypotenuse of that triangle. Its length can be found from the Pythagorean theorem.

d² = 8² +7²

d² = 64 +49 = 113

d = √113 ≈ 10.6

You and your friend are about 10.6 miles from each other.