Question

NEED HELP ASAP!!!!!
Caitlin wants to estimate the distance across a pond. She begins at one end of the
pond, shown as point Rin the diagram below. She turns away from the pond,
walks 300 ft in a straight line, and marks points. She walks another 300 ft in
the same direction and marks point T.
Next, Caitlin goes over to point U at the other end of the pond. She then measures
the distance as she walks on a straight line to point Sand finds that this distance
is 340 ft. She continues another 340 ft in the same direction and marks point V.
R
300H
.3404
1300ff
3404
T
a. Copy the diagram and label it with the given information.
b. What additional measurement should Caitlin determine to estimate the distance
RU across the pond? Justify your answer.

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

she has created 2 similar triangles, as we have 2 equal sides, and their enclosed angle is also the same due to the rules of angles of crossing lines.

so, SAS is given and that proves that the 2 triangles are similar.

now, as the corresponding side lengths are equal, it also means that VT is equal to RU.

so, measuring VT gives us also the length of RU.

we could also measure the actual angle (either RSU or VST) and then work with the enhanced Pythagoras :

c² = a² + b² - 2ab×cos(S)

with c being the baseline opposite of the angle at S.