Question

A submarine lies 3 kilometers from the path of a target ship. The sub’s torpedoes have a range of 5 kilometers. For what distance along its path will the target ship be within range of the torpedoes?

Answer 1

The distance along the path of the ship be within the range of the torpedoes is 4 kilometers.

Explanation:

The submarine lies 3 km from the target ship.

Let B denotes the target ship and C denotes the submarine.

Let AC denotes the the target ship would be within the range of the torpedoes.

The image attached below illustrates that the distance between submarine and the target ship and the range of the torpedoes.

Let BC denotes the distance between the target ship and the submarine. Let AC denotes the range of the torpedoes.

To determine the length of AB, let us use Pythagorean theorem,

$AC^{2} =AB^{2} +BC^{2}$

Substituting the values of BC = 3 and AC = 5, we have,

$5^{2} =AB^{2} +3^{2}$

Squaring the terms, we get,

$25 =AB^{2} +9$

Subtracting both sides by 9, we have,

$16 =AB^{2}$

Taking square root on both sides,

$AB = 4$

Thus, the distance along the path of the ship be within the range of the torpedoes is 4 kilometers.