Question

A man goes 15m due west and the 8m due north. He is 17m from the starting point...

Answer 1

True.
Using the pythrngeon theorem, we can say that west (15m) = A, north (8m) = B, and the 17m will be C.
For the theorem, it only holds true if a^2+b^2=c^2
So, if a = 15 and b = 8 , 15^2 = 225 and 8^2 = 64 .. 225+64=289.
Therefore c^2 must equal 289. The square root of 289 = 17, or 17^2=289. so the statement is true.