Troy drove 8 miles due east and then 5 miles due north. How far is Troy from his starting point? round the answer to the nearest tenth of a mile

Answer 1

d² = 5² + 8²

d² = 25 + 64

d² = 89

d = 9.433

Answer 2

Look at this like a triangle.

Troy went 8 miles east (point a to point b) and then 5 miles north (point b to point c). So, we are looking for the diagonal line that connects point c to point a.

To find the diagonal on a triangle, we use the pythagorean theorum: A²+B²=C²

In this instance A = the distance from point a to point b: 8, and B = the distance from point b to point c: 5. Using these variable definitions, we can plug in to solve for C: the distance between point c and point a.

8²+5²=C²

64+25=C²

89=C²

take the square root of 89, and you get 9.4339811321

Because your question asks to round to the nearest tenth of a mile, the answer would be 9.4 miles.