Question

17. The captain of a ship recorded the ship’s coordinates, then sailed north and then west, and then recorded the new coordinates. The coordinates were used to calculate the distance they traveled, √578 km. When the captain asked how far they traveled, the navigator said, "About 24 km." Is the navigator correct? Under what conditions might he need to be more precise in his answer?

Answer 1

The value of square root of 578

√578 = 24.0416

which is near about equal to 24

Also, the square of 24 is equal to 576.

Thus, Navigator is correct because both values are approximately equivalent.

If the values are much less or more than the 576 then Navigator mist give the more precise answer.