Question

To get to his parents' house, Jeffrey would have to drive due north 12 kilometers. To get tohis grandparents' house, he would have to drive due east 16 kilometers. What is the straight-line distance between the parents' and grandparents' houses?

Answer 1

Since the North and the East directions are perpendicular

Then we will have a right triangle has two legs, North and east

Its hypotenuse is the straight distance between the 2 houses

By using the Pythagoras Theorem

`\text{leg}1^2+leg2^2=hypotenuse^2`

Since leg1 = 12 km

Since leg2 = 16 km

Substitute them in the rule above

`\begin{gathered} 12^2+16^2=hyp.^2 \\ 144+256=hyp.^2 \\ 400=hyp.^2 \end{gathered}`

Take square root for both sides

`20=\text{hypo.}`

The distance between the parents' and grandparents" houses is 20 KM