SOLUTION: Two cars leave an intersection. One car travels north; the other east. When the car traveling north had gone 12 miles, the distance between the cars was 4 miles more than the dista

Question 293834: Two cars leave an intersection. One car travels north; the other east. When the car traveling north had gone 12 miles, the distance between the cars was 4 miles more than the distance traveled by the car heading east. How far had the eastbound car traveled?
Answer by ankor@dixie-net.com(22740) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Two cars leave an intersection.
One car travels north; the other east.
:
When the car traveling north had gone 12 miles,
the distance between the cars was 4 miles more
than the distance traveled by the car heading east.
:
How far had the eastbound car traveled?
:
Let x = distance traveled by the eastbound car
then
(x+4) = distance between the cars when the northbound car has traveled 12 mi
:
This is a right triangle problem; c^2 = a^2 + b^2
where
a = 12 mi
b = x
c = (x+4)
:
(x+4)^2 = 12^2 + x^2 =
:
x^2 + 8x + 16 = 144 + x^2
:
x^2 - x^2 + 8x = 144 - 16
:
8x = 128
x =
x = 16 mi is the distance of the eastbound car
:
:
See if that's true, distance between the cars should be 16+4 = 20 mi
12^2 + 16^2 = 20^2
144 + 256 = 400

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