Question

A man goes 35 metre due west and then 12 metre due north. How far is he from the starting point

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

There are two answers to this question.

Answer 1

Well if we talk about distance , then we can say that the man is (35 + 12) meters away from the starting path.

Thus the distance between the man and the starting point is 47 meters.

This one answer to this question is 47 meters.

Answer 2

If we want to find the displacement of the man , then we can find it by pythagorean theorem.

Drawing and Understanding

On drawing the 35 m west line and 12 m north line , you have to join the current position of the man with the starting point by a single straight line.On doing this , you will notice that the figure formed resembles to a right angle triangle. And as we know , pythagorean theorem is a property of a right angle triangle which states that-

"sum of squares of the legs of the right angle triangle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse".

So according to the statement -

(35)^2 + (12)^2 = (displacement)^2.

See the figure you have drawn , you will notice that displacement is nothing but the hypotenuse of the right angle triangle formed.

1225 + 144 = (displacement)^2

(displacement)^2 =1369

displacement = 37.

Therefore another answer to this question is 37 meters.

(Note: For ppl who dont what is distance and displacement-

Distance is the actual path whereas displacement is the shortest path between any two points.)

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