Question

A mouse and its house have to be plotted on a cartesian plane. Its house is located at point $A$ and the mouse is $3$ units up and $4$ units to the right of the house. What is the distance along the shortest path that the mouse has to run in a straight line to reach the $x-$axis?

• A. $5\text{units}$
• B. $2\text{units}$
• C. $4\text{units}$
• D. $3\text{units}$

Answer 1

The correct option is C $4\text{units}$

Coordinates of the house: $(2,1)$
Coordinates of the mouse when it is $3$ units up and $4$ units to the right of the house:
$3$ units up, makes the new y-coordinate $=1+3=4$
$4$ units to the right makes the x-coordinate $=2+4=6$
Hence, final coordinates: $(6,4)$
To reach the $x-$axis, the mouse will have to travel downwards, The x-axis is 4 units away from the current location.
Hence, it will run 4 units down from the point (6, 4) to reach the x-axis.