Question

You start driving north for 27 miles, turn right, and drive east for another 36 miles. At the end of driving, what is your straight line distance from your starting point?

Answer 1

Explanation:

If you drive straight north then turn and drive straight east, you have driven 2 sides of a right triangle. The straight line distance from where you are to where you started from is the hypotenuse of the right triangle. Use Pythagorean's Theorem to solve:

`27^2+36^2=c^2` and

`729+1296=c^2` and

`2025=c^2`

That means that length of the hypotenuse is 45.

45 miles is the distance.