Question

A boat starts in Riverton and sails 5 miles North. Then, the boat sails East another 3 miles,forming a right angle. What is the approximate shortest distance back to Riverton, rounded tothe nearest tenth?

Answer 1

Since this is a right triangle, we can use the Pythagorean theorem

a^2 + b^2 = c^2 where a and b are the legs and c is the hypotenuse

5^2 + 3^2 = c^2

25+9 = c^2

34 = c^2

Taking the square root of each side

sqrt(34) = c

Rounding to the nearest tenth

c =5.8