Math l.
asked • 03/18/16word problem
Tom followed the directions on the treasure map. Starting at the big tree,he walked five paces north,turned right, and walked seven more paces. He turned right again and walked nine paces,turned left and took four paces. In which direction was Tom facing,and how many paces was he from the big tree ?
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1 Expert Answer
Jeff P. answered • 03/18/16
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Draw this out as the story goes with the number of paces as a line with an arrow. 5 paces up (north) then 7 paces right (east) then 9 paces right (south), then 4 paces left (east). So Tom is facing East and would be 15 paces from the big tree. He walked 7 east + 4 east and 9 south - 5 north = 15 paces. 7+4+4 = 15. If I could draw it here it would be easiest to explain. Hope you understand.
Mark M.
The distance that Tom is from the tree is along the hypotenuse of a triangle with legs of 4 and 11.
His distance from the tree is 11.7 feet
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03/18/16
Jeff P.
Feet??? Where is feet mentioned in the equation? It would be 11.7 paces for a straight line. The average pace is around 30 inches but varies per person. I would advise Tom to walk 11 paces west and 4 paces north for the 15 paces.
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03/18/16
Mark M.
I stand corrected. The measure is paces and not feet.
Yet my calculations are correct. The problem asks for the number of paces was he from the tree. He was 11.7 paces from the tree.
Distance is always measured along the shortest path. In this case the hypotenuse of a right triangle as I stated above.
You are entitled to your advice. It just does not answer the question.
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03/18/16
Jeff P.
You only answered half of the question and you got that half wrong. I agree with the 11.7 paces and that he was facing East.
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03/18/16
Math l.
How you people are counting 11.7 ? Please explain me the whole solution for 11.7 answer ??
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03/19/16
Mark M.
Draw a diagram!
Tom ends at a point 4 paces south and 11 paces east of the tree.
These are two legs of a right triangle.
The distance to the tree is the length of the hypotenuse.
By Pythagoras that is 11.7.
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03/19/16
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Mark M.
03/18/16