document.write( "Question 77186: Suppose at the kickoff of a football game, the receiver catches the football at the left side of the goal line and runs for a touchdown diagonally across the field. How many yards would he run? (A football field is 100 yards long and 60 feet wide.) \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #55302 by bucky(2189)\"\" \"About 
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\n" ); document.write( "the dimensions of a football field are 100 yds from goal line to goal line and 160 ft (not 60 ft)
\n" ); document.write( "from sideline to sideline (160 ft = 53 and 1/3 yds or approximately 53.3333 yds).
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "Since it may just have been a keyboarding error on your part, I'm going to use 53.3333 yds
\n" ); document.write( "as the distance between sidelines.
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "The given problem can be solved using the Pythagorean theorem. From where the player
\n" ); document.write( "catches the football at the goal line corner, the player runs diagonally down the field to
\n" ); document.write( "the opposite goal line corner. This diagonal is the hypotenuse of a right triangle.
\n" ); document.write( "The two legs of the right triangle would have been traveled if instead of running the
\n" ); document.write( "diagonal the player had run along the sideline to the other goal line and then turned 90
\n" ); document.write( "degrees and run along the goal line to the opposite corner.
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "In following this sideline path the player would have run the 100 yd length of the field
\n" ); document.write( "and then turning 90 degrees and running along the goal line to the opposite corner would
\n" ); document.write( "have been the second leg and would have been the 53.3333 yd width of the field.
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "The Pythagorean theorem says that the sum of the squares of the two legs of a right
\n" ); document.write( "triangle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse. We are trying to find the hypotenuse
\n" ); document.write( "(h) which is the diagonal across the field, and we know that the two legs are 100 yds and
\n" ); document.write( "53.333 yds.
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "Substituting our known values into the Pythagorean relationship we get:
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "\"100%5E2+%2B+53.3333%5E2+=+h%5E2\"
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "Squaring the two terms on the left side results in:
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "\"10000+%2B+2844.4409+=+h%5E2\"
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "Adding the numbers on the right side gives you:
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "\"12844.4409+=+h%5E2\"
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "and then you solve for the hypotenuse (h) by taking the square root of both sides to
\n" ); document.write( "find that:
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "\"113.3333+=+h\"
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "So by cutting in a straight line across the field, the player runs 113.3333 yards,
\n" ); document.write( "or approximately 113 and 1/3 yards.
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "Hope that this problem is correct for you. However, if you really meant that the field
\n" ); document.write( "was to be 60 ft wide (or 20 yds), then you need to go back and substitute 20 wherever
\n" ); document.write( "you see 53.3333 yds above and you should then find that the player runs 101.9804
\n" ); document.write( "yds in crossing the field diagonally between goal lines. \n" ); document.write( "
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