SOLUTION: The streets in a town are arranged in square blocks. Brad leaves his house and rollerblades 4 blocks south and 5 blocks west to the athletic field. He then rollerblades 2 blocks

Question 30914This question is from textbook Mathematics
: The streets in a town are arranged in square blocks. Brad leaves his house and rollerblades 4 blocks south and 5 blocks west to the athletic field. He then rollerblades 2 blocks south and 5 blocks east to the library. How far is the library from Brad's home?
I'm not sure how to begin. I struggle with word problems. Thanks for your help. This question is from textbook Mathematics

Found 2 solutions by Nate, mbarugel:
Answer by Nate(3500) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
If you write down what you just wrote, you get Brad rollerbladeing in 5 units west...then, 5 units east.....in all, doesn't he rollerblade 6 blocks south?
Write it down if you want more proof!
Answer by mbarugel(146) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Hello!
Let's assume that Brad's home is located at the (0, 0) point in a cartesian graph.
When he moves 4 blocks south and 5 blocks west (to the athletic field), he winds up in point (0-5, 0-4) = (-5, -4). He then goes 2 blocks south and 5 blocks east, so he ends in point (-5+5, -4-2) = (0, -6).
So his home is at (0, 0) and the library is at (0, -6).
Since both places are located along the same axis (the y-axis), it's easy to find the distance: it's just 6 blocks (the length of the line connecting those point is 6)

I hope this helps!
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