Question

Anna likes to skate at a candy store that is due south of her school and due west of her favorite skate park. If the candy store is 8 miles from her school and the straight-line distance between the school and the skate park is 10 miles, how far is the candy store from the skate park?

Answer 1

6 miles

Explanation:

Given that the candy store that is due south of her school and due west of her favorite skate park, the distance between the the school and the skate park when considered with the distance between the candy store and her school and that between the candy store and her favorite skate park gives us a right angled triangle.

The distance between the school and the skate park is the longest side (hypotenuse of the triangle so formed). As such, using Pythagoras theorem

10^2 = 8^2 + x^2 where x is the distance between the Candy store and the skate park

100 = 64 + x^2

100 - 64 = x^2

36 = x^2

6^2 = x^2

x = 6

The distance between the candy store and the skate park is 6 miles