Question

You start driving west for 9 miles, turn right, and drive north for another 6 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

10.8 mi

Explanation:

Picture a right triangle with legs 9 mi and 6 mi. Applying the Pythagorean Theorem (d² = a² + b²), we get:

(9 mi)² + (6 mi)² = 117 mi²

This is the square of the hypotenuse (the desired distance).

Taking the square root of both sides, we get d = √(117 mi) ≈ 10.8 mi = d

The desired straight line distance traveled is 10.8 mi