Katrina hikes 5 miles north, 7 miles east and then 3 miles north again.
To the nearest tenth of a mile, how far, in a straight line, is Katrina from her starting point?

Question

Katrina hikes 5 miles north, 7 miles east and then 3 miles north again.
 To the nearest tenth of a mile, how far, in a straight line, is Katrina from her starting point?

zepdrix · Answer

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Ok so this is what our diagram looks like right? We want to find the length of the dotted line.

Hah, I love your picture/icon thingy btw XD

zepdrix · Answer

|dw:1351899389974:dw|
To solve this problem, we have to be a little creative. If we extend lines down and across like this, see how we can form one large triangle?
Understand where those lengths came from?