9514 1404 393
Answer:
18.8 mi
Explanation:
The Pythagorean theorem can be used to find the straight-line distance between the towns. The distances 8 mi and 17 mi form the legs of a right triangle, whose hypotenuse is the straight-line distance.
d² = 8² +17² = 64 +289 = 353
d = √353 ≈ 18.8 . . . miles
The two towns are about 18.8 miles apart.