Question

Harvey flew south 300 miles. He changed planes and then flew east 500 miles. If he travels a straight path back home, how many miles will he fly? Round to the nearest mile.

Answer 1

Answer:

583 miles

Step-by-step explanation:

Let's draw this out (see attachment).

The straight line path creates the hypotenuse of a right triangle with legs of lengths 300 and 500. So, we use the Pythagorean Theorem, which states that for a right triangle with legs a and b and hypotenuse c:

a² + b² = c²

Here, a = 300 and b = 500. Then:

300² + 500² = c²

90000 + 250000 = c²

340000 = c²

c = √340000 ≈ 583.1 ≈ 583 mi

Thus, the answer is 583 miles.

~ an aesthetics lover