document.write( "Question 203647: A car is traveling on a road that
\n" ); document.write( "is perpendicular to a railroad track. When the car is
\n" ); document.write( "30 meters from the crossing, the car’s new collision
\n" ); document.write( "detector warns the driver that there is a train 50 meters
\n" ); document.write( "from the car and heading toward the same crossing. How
\n" ); document.write( "far is the train from the crossing? \n" ); document.write( "

Algebra.Com's Answer #153657 by Earlsdon(6294) $\"\"$ $\"About$

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If you draw a diagram of this situation in which the railway tracks (from the train to the crossing) are represented by one leg of a right triangle and the road on which the car is traveling represents the other leg of the triangle, then the distance from the train to the car is the hypotenuse.
\n" ); document.write( "So we have one leg of the triangle = 30 meters and the hypotenuse = to 50 meters.
\n" ); document.write( "You need to find the distance. d, of the train to the crossing. Use the Pythagorean theorem: $\"c%5E2+=+a%5E2%2Bb%5E2\"$ where, in this problem, c = 50 meters, a = 30 meters, and d (this is the b in the formula) is unknown.
\n" ); document.write( " $\"50%5E2+=+30%5E2%2Bd%5E2\"$
\n" ); document.write( " $\"2500+=+900%2Bd%5E2\"$ Subtract 900 from both sides of the equation.
\n" ); document.write( " $\"1600+=+d%5E2\"$ Take the square root of both sides.
\n" ); document.write( " $\"d+=+40\"$ meters.
\n" ); document.write( "The train is 40 meters from the crossing.
\n" ); document.write( "P.S. I hope the motorist makes it alright! \n" ); document.write( "

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