SOLUTION: You start driving north for 9 miles, turn right, and drive east for another 40 miles. How many miles must you travel to return directly back to your starting point?

Algebra ->  Customizable Word Problem Solvers  -> Travel -> SOLUTION: You start driving north for 9 miles, turn right, and drive east for another 40 miles. How many miles must you travel to return directly back to your starting point?      Log On

Ad: Over 600 Algebra Word Problems at edhelper.com


    

Question 1087027: You start driving north for 9 miles, turn right, and drive east for another 40 miles. How many miles must you travel to return directly back to your starting point?
Found 2 solutions by Alan3354, ikleyn:
Answer by Alan3354(69443) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
It's a right triangle.
Find the hypotenuse.

Answer by ikleyn(52817) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
.
Although the problem/the post is written in good English, it does not make sense.

Two evident solutions come to the mind first. 

a)  Hypotenuse.  

    But how do you know that there is straight way/street/highway available along the hypotenuse ??


    What if there is a huge lake between the starting and ending points ??


b)  Returning back by the same way as the driver got the final point . . . 

    But how do you know that the way back is two-side street . . . ?

Therefore I say that the problem formulation presented makes no sense.