Thread: How far apart are points O and P?

Not sure if I should put this under the Geometry section?

Starting from point O on a flat school playground, a child walks 10yards due north, then 6yards due east, and then 2 yards due south, arriving at point P. How far apart, in yards, are points O and P?

Originally Posted by thecapaccino

Not sure if I should put this under the Geometry section?

Starting from point O on a flat school playground, a child walks 10yards due north, then 6yards due east, and then 2 yards due south, arriving at point P. How far apart, in yards, are points O and P?

This involves a right triangle:

He went north 10 yards and later south 2 yards, that's a total of 8 yards north from O. Likewise he went 6 yards east of O. If we think of his movement north as the measure of one leg of a right triangle and his movement east as the measure of the other leg of that right triangle, then we can find the distance from O to P as the measure of the hypotonuse of that right triangle.

c^2 = a^2 + b^2 ... where a = 8 and b = 6
c^2 = 8^2 + 6^2 = 64 + 36 = 100
c = 10

Yes...I did try and use it..but did not subtract 2yards from the 10yards north...which made my answer wrong.

Thanks...clears up things now.

Cheers