Question

Casey travels from her house directly west to the bank and then directly north from the bank to the mall. She then travels home on the road connecting the mall and her house. What is her total distance traveled?
A) 17 miles

B) 32 miles

C) 37 miles

D) 40 miles

Answer 1

A) 17 miles because using Pythagorean theory we know that a squared + b squared = c squared

Answer 2

Answer:

D) 40 miles

Step-by-step explanation:

First we must find the distance between the mall and the house.  The figure formed is a right triangle.  The length of the side from the mall to the house forms the hypotenuse of the triangle.  We can use the Pythagorean theorem to find the length:

a² + b² = c²

The two legs of the triangle, a and b, are 15 and 8:

15² + 8² = c²

225 + 64 = c²

289 = c²

Take the square root of each side:

√289 = √(c²)

17 = c

This makes the total distance

15+8+17= 40 miles