Question 974837: Two planes leave an airport at the same time, one traveling due east at 550 mph, and one traveling due south at 600 mph. Write a formula for d(t), the distance between the two planes (in miles) after t hours.
Answer by solver91311(24713)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Oddly enough, East and South differ by 90 degrees, hence consider the following three points: Where the two airplanes originated, the location of the first airplane at any time greater than zero, and the location of the second airplane at that same time. These three points are the vertices of a right triangle. One leg of the triangle, recalling that distance equals rate times time, is 550t for any time t > 0. The other leg measures 600t. And the distance between the two aircraft is the hypotenuse.
Now if you simply recall what Mr. Pythagoras taught us, you should be able to write an expression that is equal to d(t), the measure of the hypotenuse at time t.
John
My calculator said it, I believe it, that settles it
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