Question

The Frostburg-Truth bus travels on a straight road from Frostburg Mall to Sojourner Truth Park. The mall is 3 miles west and 4 miles south of the City Center. The park is 3 miles east and 5 miles north of the Center. How far is it from the mall to the park to the nearest tenth of a mile?

Answer 1

That would be the "straight line distance." Most of us would take the shortest route from A to B, wouldn't we, if we didn't have to wade through 3 feet of snow, right?

Draw a picture. Show the distance traveled westward and the distance traveled south. You're going to have to do vector addition; have you done that before?

What's the name of the famous Theorem that applies here to find the distance in question?

Answer 2

i don't get it

Answer 3

Even though you're asking for help here, the problem remains yours to do, not mine, and so I'd much rather you NOT use the excuse, "I don't get it," for not doing anything.

1) Use the origin of a set of rectangular coordinate axes as your starting point. This point will represent the City Center.
2) Mark the locations of the Park and Mall on these axes. You are told that the mall is 3 miles west and 4 miles south of the City Center. You are also given the coordinates of the mall. Draw a picture, please. Then we'll continue.