Madison B.

asked • 04/15/16

What is the distance from town A to C?

Town b is 380 km due south of town A. Town C is 460 km due east of town B. What is the distance from town A to town C?

David W.

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Madison, draw a picture and I bet it will come to you!
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04/15/16

Madison B.

I did draw a picture. Would I just take 380 km and subtract it from the 460 km? so like 380km-460km=80kkm?
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04/15/16

Kenneth S.

Also, think about one of the most famous Greek mathematicians, Pythagoras.
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04/15/16

1 Expert Answer

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CHERYL S. answered • 04/15/16

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Think about mapping the towns on a coordinate plane.  Let Town B be located at the origin (0,0).  If Town C is due east of Town B, its coordinates would be (460, 0).  Town B is 380 km due south of Town A.  Reversing that information, Town A is 380 km north of Town B, so its coordinates are (0, 380).
 
You can use this information in one of two ways.  Use the Pythagorean Theorem (a2+b2=c2) or the distance formula
(√(x2-x1)2+(y2-y1)2).  
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