Question

On a rectangular soccer field, Sang is standing on the goal line 20 yards from the corner post. Jazmin is standing 99 yards from the same corner post on the nearest adjacent side of the field. What is the distance from Sang to Jazmin?
A.119 yards
B.101 yards
C.10,201 yards
D.1,980 yards

Answer 1

Okay, so Sang is standing 20 yards away from one corner, and Jazmin is standing 99 yards away from the same corner. If this is a rectangle (I like visuals, so I'll use them to explain), then:
               
                    99ft
      A  -------------------------  B
         |                              |
20 ft  |                              |
         |                              |
    C   --------------------------  D

The question is asking you to solve for the diagonal line between points C and B. If you imagine a line there, you actually have the rectangle split into two triangles. So if you have triangle ABC, side CB would be the longest line, or the hypotenuse. That means you can use the Pythagorean Theorem to solve the problem.

A^2 + B^2 = C^2
99^2 + 20^2 = C^2
9,801 + 400 = C^2
10,201 = C^2

Now you solve for the square root of 10,201 to get C.

sqr (10,201) = C
C = 101 yards