To get from point A to point B you must avoid walking through a pond. To avoid the pond, you must walk 34 meters south and 41 meters east. To the nearest meter, how many meters would be saved if it were possible to walk through the pond?
+23254 This is a right triangle, Pythagorean Theorem, problem.
If you start at Point A and walk 34 meters south to point C and from this point walk 41 meters east to Point B, you have walked the two legs, AC and CB, of right triangle ACB (with the angle at corner C the right angle). To find the straight line distance from A to B, use the Pythagorean Theorem: AC2 + CB2 = AB2 ---> 412 + 342 = AB2
---> 2837 = AB2 ---> AB = 53.3
Walking from A to C to B = 41 + 34 = 75 meters.
Walking from A to B will save you 75 - 53.3 = 21.7 meters.
