How much time will he save by crossing diagonally across the pen from one corner to the other instead of going around the outside?

Question

Farmer Tom has a Bull pen that is 3500m wide by 1500m tall. He wants to cut diagonally across the pen to save time. If he walks at 5km/h how much time will he save by crossing diagonally across the pen from one corner to the other instead of going around the outside?

Answer 1

Use the Pythagorean theorem to find the length of the diagonal through the rectangular pen (dimensions 3500 m  by 1500m).  THAT'S A REALLY BIG PEN SINCE 1500 M IS ABOUT 1 MILE!

 

Then just compute the sum of Length & Width.  Use Time = Distance /rate to calculate the two times for the two different trips; subtract to compute time saved.

Answer 2

To go from one corner to the corner directly diagonal from it, the farmer will travel 5000m (3500+1500m) if he goes around the outside. He is walking at 5km/hr

 

To figure out the diagonal distance traveled, we can use Pythagorean theorem (a rectangle cut diagonally is a right triangle). The value of the hypotenuse is the distance he would travel cutting across the pen. 

 

5000m/5000m/hr=1 hr (5km=5000m)

Hypotenuse/5000m/hr=x hr

 

1 hr - x hr = ANSWER