Mrs. Yeh is teaching a 5th grade class. She is standing 12 feet in front of Erik. John is sitting to Erik's right. If John and Mrs. Yeh are 13 feet apart, how far apart are Erik and John?
Not in this case Rosemary. According to Pythagorean Theorem a²+b²=c² but in this case Erik & John are the a² part of the equation. The wording of this problem is tricky but you have to visualize it as a triangle. If Mrs.Yeh is directly in front of Erik, then the distance between them must be a perpendicular line (at 90°). By that reasoning if John is sitting beside Erik, then the distance between John and Mrs. Yeh can not be a perpendicular line.
Erik and John are sitting 17.69 feet apart
ReplyDeleteNot in this case Rosemary. According to Pythagorean Theorem a²+b²=c² but in this case Erik & John are the a² part of the equation. The wording of this problem is tricky but you have to visualize it as a triangle. If Mrs.Yeh is directly in front of Erik, then the distance between them must be a perpendicular line (at 90°). By that reasoning if John is sitting beside Erik, then the distance between John and Mrs. Yeh can not be a perpendicular line.
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