Question

One route along flat terrain from Hermansville to Melville is to drive straight north from Hermansville for 120 miles to Jamestown, then, at Jamestown, to drive straight west for 80 miles to Melville. If a straight,flat road existed between Hermansville and Melville,approximately how many miles long would it be?

Answer 1

Approximately 144 miles. You have to use the pythagorean theorem. a^2+b^2=c^2.
120 and 80 will be the legs, a and b. 120^2 + 80^2 = c^2. 14400 + 6400 = 20800. Remember, c is squared, so to find the answer, you need to find the square root of 20800, which is 144.222051019. Therefore, c, the road between Hermansville and Melville, would be approximately 144 miles.

Answer 2

Approx. 144 mileswe can find this length by use of pythagorean's threorom. we use it because there's a 90 degree angle in the triangle, first we go due north, then turn due west.

$a^{2}$ + $b^{2}$ = $c^{2}$ , where a & b and the lines attached to the right angle, and c is the hypotenuse, also the length we're looking for.

$120^{2}$ + $80^{2}$ = $c^{2}$
14400 + 6400 = $c^{2}$
20800 = $c^{2}$
c = $\sqrt{20800}$ ≈ 144.2