Question

You start at home by walking 10 meters west, turning south, and then walking 5 more meters. Find the distance from home. Round the final answer to the nearest tenth miles.

Answer 1

5sqrt(5) meters

Explanation:

Picture a right triangle with one horizontal leg and one vertical leg, as well as the hypotenuse. Walking 10 meters west is represented horizontally. Likewise, walking 5 meters south is represented vertically. This right triangle thus has two legs of lengths 10 m and 5 m respectively; according to the Pythagorean Theorem, the length of the diagonal (which represents the distance from home) is d = sqrt(10^2 + 5^2) = sqrt(125) = 5sqrt(5). Round this off to the nearest tenth m (meter or mile) after evaluating the square root on a calculator.