Question

A man goes 15 m due west and then 8 m due north. How far is he from the starting point?

Answer 1

Given a man goes 15 m due west and then 8 m due north
Let O be the starting point and P be the final point.
Then OP becomes the hypotenuse in the triangle.
So by using the Pythagoras theorem, we can find the distance OP.
$O{P}^2={15}^2+8^2$
$O{P}^2=225+64$
$O{P}^2=289$
OP = 17
Hence, the required distance is 17 m.