Question

Justin walked 3 miles north and 6 miles west. Starting from the same point, Tina walked 2 miles south and 4 miles east. How far apart are Justin and Tina?

Answer 1

Use right triangles. For Justin, the triangle would have sides 3 and 6 and then distance he is from the starting point would be sq rt (3^2 + 6^2). (His distance is the hypotenuse of the right triangle.

Answer 2

Since Tina walks south and then east, you can also find her distance from the starting point, again with the pythagorean theorem. For her triangle it would be sq rt (2^2 + 4^2). Then add those 2 answers together.