You start driving north for 8 miles, turn right, and drive east for another 6 miles. At the end of driving, what is your straight line distance from your starting point?
Use the Pythagorean Theorem: \(\sqrt{6^2+8^2}=10\).
So your straight line distance is 10.
We can also recognize this as a multiple of the 3-4-5 Pythagorean triple. We have \(\frac{3}{6}=\frac{4}{8}=\frac{5}{x}\) , with x being the desired value. Therefore x=10, like previously.