SOLUTION: Eric walked 4 miles due south and then walked east. He is now 12 miles from his starting point. How far did he walk east? Round to the nearest tenth.

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Question 997833: Eric walked 4 miles due south and then walked east. He is now 12 miles from his starting point. How far did he walk east? Round to the nearest tenth.
Found 2 solutions by solver91311, fractalier:
Answer by solver91311(24713) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

Use Pythagoras to solve the right triangle. One leg is 4, the hypotenuse is 12, and the other leg is the answer to the question.

John

My calculator said it, I believe it, that settles it

Answer by fractalier(6550) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
You have made a right triangle where the southern piece is one leg of length 4 miles, and the hypotenuse is 12 miles. We need the eastern leg. Call it b. Use the Pythagoren Theorem:
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
4^2 + b^2 = 12^2
16 + b^2 = 144 now subtract 16
b^2 = 128
b = sqrt(128) = 11.3