Question

Can someone help me with this please? In Belleville, the library is due south of the courthouse and due west of the community swimming pool. If the distance between the library and the courthouse is 9 miles and the distance between the courthouse and the city pool is 15 miles, how far is the library from the community pool?

Answer 1

12 miles

Explanation:

A right triangle is formed, where the distance between the library and the courthouse is one leg ( = 9 miles), the distance between the library and the swimming pool is the other leg (let's call it x), and the distance between the swimming pool and the courthouse is the hypotenuse ( = 15 miles).

From Pythagorean theorem:

15² = 9² + x²

225 - 81 = x²

x = √144

x = 12 miles