SOLUTION: You start driving north for 12 miles, turn right, and drive east for another 16 miles. How many miles must you travel to return directly back to your starting point?

Question 1134617: You start driving north for 12 miles, turn right, and drive east for another 16 miles. How many miles must you travel to return directly back to your starting point?
Answer by Theo(13342) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
you have traveled in the form of a right triangle where the vertical leg is 12 miles and the horizontal leg to the right is 16 miles.

your direct route back is the hypotenuse of this right triangle.

that makes the distance back equal to square root of (16^2 + 12^2) = 20 miles.

that's because pythagorus says that the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the square root of ((the length of one leg) squared plus (the length of the other leg) squared).

RELATED QUESTIONS
You start driving north for 9 miles, turn right, and drive east for another 40 miles. How (answered by Alan3354,ikleyn)

You start driving north for 24 miles, turn right, and drive east for another 10 miles. At (answered by josgarithmetic)

the distance between two cities is southwest ten miles. to drive, you must travel 8 miles (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com)

the distance between two cities is southwest ten miles. to dive, you must travel 8 miles... (answered by drk)

To reach city A, you travel north for 2.00 hours covering 80.0 miles. You then turn due... (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com)

if�u�travel�18�miles�east�and�the�12�miles�north�how�far�are�you�from�your�starting�point (answered by richwmiller,stanbon)

1.) Andre rode in a bike trek from his home due north for 10 miles and then due east for... (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com)

a cellular phone tower services a 20 mile radius. A rest stop on the highway is 5 miles... (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com)

define a variable and write an equation for the situation. then solve. suppose you are... (answered by nerdybill)