Question

You start driving north for 6 miles, turn right, and drive east for another 19 miles. At the end of driving, what is your straight line distance from your starting point? Round to the nearest tenth of a mile.

Answer 1

Okay, here's the method I'm going to use.

If you drive north 6 miles, and then drive east 19 miles, you are technically making a triangle.

19 miles

l_______________

6 milesl

l

You are just missing the last side of the triangle: the straight line stretching from across your starting point to the ending point. You can find this by using the Pythagorean theorem.

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

6^2 + 19^2 = c^2

36 + 361 = c

397 = c

`√(397)` = 19.924859

Rounded to the nearest tenth, your answer is

19.9 miles