a practice field is a rectangle 270 ft wide and 360ft long. the coach has players run diagonally across the field. How far do the players run?

Answer 1

Notice that the sides are 270 = 3•90 and 360 = 4•90 which is similar to a 3-4-5 triangle scaled by 90.

So the diagonal would be 5•90 = 450 which is easier to calculate than using the Pythagorean formula.

Answer 2

d= sqr(270^2 +360^2) feet

or

d = sqr(90^2 +120^2) yards

=sqr(8100+14400) = sqr22500 = 150 yards =450 feet

Answer 3

The right triangle formed by the length and width of the field along with the diagonal will be used to find the solution. Use the pythagorean theorem to find the length of the diagonal.