SOLUTION: Can i get help with a question please... Because of construction along the road from A to B, Alinna drives 8 miles from A to C and then 15 miles from C to B. How much farther

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Question 1192513: Can i get help with a question please...
Because of construction along the road from A to B, Alinna drives 8 miles from A to C and then 15 miles from C to B.
How much farther (in miles) did Alinna travel by using the alternative route from A to B?
The Pythagorean theorem will be needed in this problem. Once you use the Pythagorean theorem , you will get the length of AB, but this question goes a little further, it wants the DIFFERENCE of AB from the SUM of AC and CB

Found 2 solutions by ikleyn, Theo:
Answer by ikleyn(52781)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
.

Although it is not disclosed in the post, from the context I can guess that

AC and CB are the legs of the right-angled triangle ABC, while AB is its hypotenuse.



Then, using the Pythagorean theorem, I can find the length of AB

   AB  =  =  = 17 miles.



Next, the problem asks how much longer is the path AC + CB than AB.


To find it, subtract  17 from 8+15:  


            (8+15) - 17 = 23 - 17 = 6.


ANSWER.  The path AC + CB is 6 miles longer than AB.

Solved (with clear explanations).



Answer by Theo(13342)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
the problem is not very well defined.
from what you said, i will assume that a right triangle is formed.
the right triangle will be ABC
AB is the horizontal leg.
AC is the vertical leg.
BC is the hypotenuse.

the length of AC is 8.
the length of BC is 15.
the pythagorus formula is square of hypotenuse equals square of horizontal leg plus square of vertical leg.

since hypotenuse is 15 and vertical leg is 8, then the formula becomes:
15^2 = 8^2 + horizontal leg squared.
slve for horizontal leg squared to get:
square of horizontal leg = 15^2 minus 8^2 = 225 minus 64 = 161.
the length of the horizontal leg is the square root of 161 = 12.68857754.

the alternate route was the vertical leg plus the hypotenuse = 8 + 15 = 23.
the direct route was 12.68857754.
the alternate route minus the direct route = 10.31142246.
that's the additional miles that the alternate route took.

here's my diagram.
check it over and see if agrees with what your diagram looks like.
if yes, then we're good.
if no, then let me know what your diagram looks like and we can go from there.



angle A is a right angle ( 90 degrees )

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