Question

Jordan lives 6 kilometers due south of his parents' house and 4 kilometers west of his grandparents' house. On his birthday, Jordan drove from his house to his parents' house. From there, he drove in a straight line to his grandparents' house and then back home. How far did Jordan drive on his birthday? If necessary, round to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

Answer:

Step-by-step explanation:

The direction of movement of Jordan on his birthday forms a right angle triangle. His movement from his house to his parents due south represents the opposite side of the right angle triangle. His movement due west represents the adjacent side and the movement back home along the straight line, d represents the hypotenuse. To determine d, we would apply the Pythagorean theorem. Thus

d² = 6² + 4² = 52

d = √52 = 7.2 km

The total distance that he drove on his birthday is

6 + 4 + 7.2 = 17.2 km