Question

A softball diamond is in the shape of a square. The distance from base to base is 60 feet. How far does a catcher throw the ball from home plate to second base?

A. 60 sqrt 2 feet
B. 30 feet
C. 30 sqrt 2 feet
D. 60 feet

Answer 1

I just did this quiz and the answer was 60 sqrt 2 feet.

Answer 2

A.
`60√(2)` feet.

Explanation:

Let distance between home plate to second base be x feet.

We have been given that a softball diamond is in the shape of a square. The distance from base to base is 60 feet.

The distance between home plate and second base would be equal the hypotenuse of square.

We will use Pythagoras theorem to solve our given problem.

`x^2=60^2+60^2`

`x^2=3600+3600`

`x^2=7200`

Now, we will take square root of both sides of our equation.

`x=√(7200)`

`x=√(2*3600)`

`x=√(2*60*60)`

`x=60√(2)`

Therefore, the catcher must throw the ball
`60√(2)` feet from home plate to second base.