Question

A car travels 60 miles due north then makes a turn due west. It travels 72 miles west. How far is the car from its starting point? Round to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

Answer:

93.7 miles

Step-by-step explanation:

This problem can be represented as a right angled triangle. The distance between the final point and the starting point is the hypotenuse.

We need to find the hypotenuse. We can use Pythagoras rule:

$hyp^2 = opp^2 + adj^2$

where opp = opposite side to the angle considered

adj = adjacent side to the angle considered

This implies that:

$x^2 = 60^2 + 72^2\\\\x^2 = 8784\\\\x = \sqrt{8784} \\\\x = 93.7 miles$

The car is 93.7 miles far from its starting point.