Question

Musah stands at the center of a rectangular field. He first takes 50 steps north, then 25 steps west and finally 50 steps on a bearing of 315°. Sketch musah's movement. How far west is musah's final point from the center?

Answer 1

Answer: 4.17 steps

Explanation:

Draw a point to use as the center and then sketch 50 units north (up) and 25 units west (left) and 315° which creates a right triangle that has an angle of 360° - 315° = 45°

Use Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of the hypotenuse.

50² + 25² = hypotenuse² --> hypotenuse = 55.9 units

Since Musah only walked 50 units along the hypotenuse, he is 5.9 units from the center.

Create another right triangle using the remaining 5.9 units as the hypotenuse. You can use 45°-45°-90° rules OR sin 45° to find the horizontal distance from the center to be 4.17.

see attachment for sketch