a man cycles 24km due south and then 20 km due east, another man, starting at the same time as the first man cycles 32km due east and then 7km due south. find the distance between them

Answer 1

Let's locate the starting point for both men at the origin of a cartesian coordinate system with south being in the negative y direction and east being in the positive x direction.

In this case the coordinates of the first man is (20,- 24), and the second man (32, -7).

The distance between them at the end of their journey is the hypotenuse of a right triangle formed by the difference of the x coordinates and the difference of the y coordinates.

The distance between them is then D = √ (32 - 20)² + (-7 + 24)² = 20.8 km