Question 598456
A man travels 1 km North, 2 km East, 3 km North, and 4 km East. How far is he from the starting point?
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That's a total of 4 km North and 6 km East.
{{{d = sqrt(a^2 + b^2) = sqrt(4^2 + 6^2) = sqrt(52)}}}
d =~ 7.211 km
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If the lengths of the legs of a triangle are a, b, find the length h of the altitude to the hypotenuse in terms of a and b.
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c = length of hypotenuse = sqrt(a^2 + b^2)
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h/b = a/c
h = ab/c
h = ab/sqrt(a^2 + b^2)