Question 977728: A man standing at point A walks 1 mile south, 3 miles east, 5 miles north, and 7 miles west to reach point B. The length of line segment AB is?
Please explain with detail and with a diagram. I have tried multiple times, but I still have not been able to solve this problem.
Answer by Fombitz(32388)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Let east be positive x.
Let north be positive y.
He starts at (0,0).
1 mile south : (0,0) + (0,-1)=(0,-1)
3 miles east :(0,-1)+(3,0)=(3,-1)
5 miles north : (3,-1)+(0,5)=(3,4)
7 miles west : (3,4)+(-7,0)=(-4,4)
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,
,
So then the distance from (0,0) to (-4,4) is,
 
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