To find out how much shorter it is for Sylvia to walk through the park instead of walking down Johnson Avenue and then turning right onto 41st Street, we need to calculate both distances.
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Distance walking straight down Johnson Avenue and then turning on 41st Street:
- Johnson Avenue is 80 yards.
- 41st Street is 60 yards.
Total distance = 80 yards + 60 yards = 140 yards.
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Distance walking through the park (the hypotenuse):
- We can visualize this scenario as a right triangle where:
- The base (horizontal distance) is 80 yards (from 42nd Street to 41st Street).
- The height (vertical distance) is 60 yards (from Johnson Avenue to Edison Avenue).
- We can apply the Pythagorean theorem to calculate the hypotenuse:
\[ c^2 = a^2 + b^2 \] \[ c^2 = 80^2 + 60^2 \] \[ c^2 = 6400 + 3600 \] \[ c^2 = 10000 \] \[ c = \sqrt{10000} = 100 \text{ yards} \]
- We can visualize this scenario as a right triangle where:
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Finding the difference in distance:
- Distance walking through the park = 100 yards.
- Distance walking straight down = 140 yards.
Difference = 140 yards - 100 yards = 40 yards.
Thus, if Sylvia walks through the park instead of straight down Johnson Avenue and straight down 41st Street, the walk will be 40 yards shorter.