Question

Charlie wants to swim across a river that's is 400 meters wide. He begins swimming perpendicular to the shore he from but ends up on the opposite side 100 meters down river from where he started due to the current. Carter starts swimming from the same spot as Charlie and ends up 50 meters further down river than Charlie. How much farther did Carter swim? Round your answer to the nearest meter.

Answer 1

Let's calculate Charlie swimming distance. Assume Charlie swimming distance is D.
D^2 = 400^2 + 100^2 => D = 412 meters

Assume d is Carter's distance.
d^2 = 400^2 + 150^2 => d = 427 meters

Carter swims more than Charlie by:
d - D = 427 - 412 = 15 meters