Li Wei usually gets to work by walking 1.3 miles north on 12th Street and then turning right 90∘ and walking east on Azalia Street for 3.3 miles. His friend mentions that Li Wei could take Washington Street instead, which goes directly from his apartment to his workplace, in a straight line. Approximately how much shorter, in miles, is this route compared to Li Wei's usual walking route?(Round your answer to the nearest tenth of a mile.)
Q. Li Wei usually gets to work by walking 1.3 miles north on 12th Street and then turning right 90∘ and walking east on Azalia Street for 3.3 miles. His friend mentions that Li Wei could take Washington Street instead, which goes directly from his apartment to his workplace, in a straight line. Approximately how much shorter, in miles, is this route compared to Li Wei's usual walking route?(Round your answer to the nearest tenth of a mile.)
Identify the legs: Identify the legs of the right triangle formed by Li Wei's usual route.Li Wei walks 1.3 miles north and then 3.3 miles east, forming a right triangle with these two distances as the legs.
Use Pythagorean Theorem: Use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of the hypotenuse, which represents the distance of the direct route on Washington Street.The Pythagorean Theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse (c) is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides (a and b).egin{equation} a^2 + b^2 = c^2d{equation}egin{equation}1.3^2 + 3.3^2 = c^2d{equation}
Calculate squares of legs: Calculate the squares of the legs of the triangle.1.32=1.693.32=10.89
Add squares for hypotenuse: Add the squares of the legs to find the square of the hypotenuse. 1.69+10.89=12.58
Find length of hypotenuse: Take the square root of the sum to find the length of the hypotenuse. 12.58≈3.55 miles
Calculate difference in distance: Calculate the difference in distance between Li Wei's usual route and the direct route on Washington Street.Li Wei's usual route is 1.3 miles + 3.3 miles = 4.6 miles.The direct route is approximately 3.55 miles.Difference = 4.6 miles - 3.55 miles = 1.05 miles
Round difference to nearest tenth: Round the difference to the nearest tenth of a mile.Rounded difference = 1.1 miles
More problems from Pythagorean Theorem and its converse