Question

A ship has an island directly in the path of the destination port, so it has to travel 11.5 miles west and then 8.4 miles north to get to the port. To the nearest tenth,how much shorter would the trip be if the ship could go directly to port?

Answer 1

Explanation:

The direct distance there (without the island in the way) is found using the Pythagorean Theorem

c^2 = a^2 + b^2

a = 8.4

b = 11.5

c = ?

c^2 = 8.4^2 + 11.5^2 Square the length of the legs.

c^2 = 70.56 + 132.25 Combine

c^2 = 202.81 Take the square root.

c = 14.24

But the island is there. The distance travelled = 8.4 + 11.5 = 19.9 miles

So the additional distance = 19.9 - 14.24 = 5.66 miles.