Question

A plane leaves an airport and flies 19 km east then 24 km south. How far is the plane from the airport?

Answer 1

Answer: 30.6 km away

Explanation:

The main thing this problem requires is Pythagoras' theorem. So set the problem up by marking the airport as (0,0) on a graph. Then move 19 units to the right, and 24 units down and make a point. Now you have the two short lengths of a right-angle triangle, so all that's left is to solve for the hypotenuse. So using the formula
`a^(2) + b^(2) = c^(2)` you would end up with
`19^(2) + 24^(2) =c^(2)`. Then you get: 361+576=
`c^(2)`

solve for c and you get about 30.6 km!

Hope this helps!