Question

Two hikers start a trip from a camp walking 1.5 km east. They turn north and walk 1.7 km to a waterfall. To the nearest tenth of a kilometer, how far is the waterfall from camp?

Answer 1

the horizontal leg (due east) = 1.5 km

the vertical leg (due north) = 1.7 Km

The hypotenuse is the distance from camp

Use the Pythagorean theorem to find the length of the hypotenuse:

waterfall's distance from camp = √(1.5² + 1.7²) = 2.3 km (to the nearest tenth)