Question

Ms. Russa has to drive 12 miles north from her house to go to work. From work, she goes to

the store which is 9 miles east from the school. If she were to drive in a straight line from the
store to her home, how many miles would she travel?

Answer 1

`Distance = 15\ miles`

Step-by-step explanation:

Given

`North = 12\ miles`

`East = 9\ miles`

Required

Distance from her house to the store

If she drive straight from her house to the store, this would form a right angled triangle;

Where the horizontal line would be:

`North = 12\ miles`

And the vertical line;

`East = 9\ miles`

And the required distance would be the hypothenuse of the triangle;

Using Pythagoras, we have:

`Distance^2 = 9^2 + 12^2`

`Distance^2 = 81 + 144`

`Distance^2 = 225`

Take square root of both sides

`Distance = 15\ miles`