Question

Use the Pythagorean theorem to answer this question. Becca paddles a boat from the south bank of a stream to the north bank. She paddles at a rate of 8 mph. The stream is flowing west at a rate of 6 mph. What is Becca's actual velocity?

Answer 1

Try drawing a triangle diagram of the situation

You will have a right triangle with legs 8 and 6, then simply calculate the hypotenuse to get the combined velocity

a^2 + b^2 = c^2