Question

A man cycles 24 km due south and then 20 km due east. Another man starting at the same time as the first man, cycles 32 km due east and then 7 km due south. Find the distance between the two men.

Answer 1

Answer:

Let's locate the starting point for both men at the origin of a cartesian coordinate system with south being in the negative y direction and east being in the positive x direction.

In this case the coordinates of the first man is (20,- 24), and the second man (32, -7).

The distance between them at the end of their journey is the hypotenuse of a right triangle formed by the difference of the x coordinates and the difference of the y coordinates.

The distance between them is then D = √ (32 - 20)2 + (-7 + 24)2 = 20.8 km