Question 200494
Avoiding a collision. A car is traveling on a road that
is perpendicular to a railroad track. When the car is
30 meters from the crossing, the car’s new collision
detector warns the driver that there is a train 50 meters
from the car and heading toward the same crossing. How
far is the train from the crossing?
.
Applying Pythagorean theorem:
Let x = train's distance from crossing
then
x^2 + 30^2 = 50^2
x^2 = 50^2 - 30^2
x^2 = 2500 - 900
x^2 = 1600
x = {{{sqrt(1600)}}}
x = 40 meters