document.write( "Question 629577: two ships leave from the same port at 11:30 am if one sails due east at 20 miles per hour and the other due south at 15 miles per hour how many miles apart are the ships at 2:30pm? \n" ); document.write( "

Algebra.Com's Answer #396459 by 55305(86) $\"\"$ $\"About$

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First lets find how far apart the ships are from the port in three hours. The first one is 60 (20*3) miles away from the port, and the other one is 45 (15*3) miles away from the port. If we sketch a picture:
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\n" ); document.write( "Then we can see that the distance from the two ships is the hypotenuse of a right triangle. If we apply Pythagorean's Theorem of a^2+b^2=c^2 and make a 45, and make b 60, then we can find out the answer. So
\n" ); document.write( "2025+3600=c^2
\n" ); document.write( "5625=c^2
\n" ); document.write( "c=75
\n" ); document.write( "So the ships will be 75 miles apart at 2:30 pm. \n" ); document.write( "

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