SOLUTION: Two sports cars leave the city at 9 a.m. One heads due south at 60 mph, the other car travels east at 45 mph. How far apart are they at noon?

Question 230564: Two sports cars leave the city at 9 a.m. One heads due south at 60 mph, the other car travels east at 45 mph. How far apart are they at noon?
Answer by drj(1380) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Two sports cars leave the city at 9 a.m. One heads due south at 60 mph, the other car travels east at 45 mph. How far apart are they at noon?

Step 1. The two cars travel for 3 hours since the difference between 12 and 9 is 3.

Step 2. distance = speed * time

Step 3. Let 60*3=180 be the distance of the car traveling south.

Step 4. Let 45*3=135 be the distance of the car traveling east.

Step 5. Let d be the distance that the cars are apart after 3 hours.

Step 6. Use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the distance the two cars are apart after 3 hours. The theorem states that the sum of the square of the legs of a right triangle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse ( distance the cars are apart in this example).

Take the square root to both sides of the equation

Step 7. ANSWER: The two cars will be 225 miles apart.

I hope the above steps were helpful.

For FREE Step-By-Step videos in Introduction to Algebra, please visit http://www.FreedomUniversity.TV/courses/IntroAlgebra and for Trigonometry visit http://www.FreedomUniversity.TV/courses/Trigonometry.

Good luck in your studies!

Respectfully,
Dr J
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