Three ballet dancers are positioned on stage. Isabella is 4 feet straight behind Dalton and 2 feet directly left of Belle. When the music begins, Isabella twirls to Belle's position, then leaps to Dalton's position, and finally walks back to her original position. How far did Isabella travel? If necessary, round to the nearest tenth.

1 answer

To solve this problem, we need to establish coordinates for each dancer based on the given information.

Let's place Belle at the origin of our coordinate system:

  • Belle's position: \( (0, 0) \)

Since Isabella is 2 feet directly left of Belle, we place Isabella at:

  • Isabella's position: \( (-2, 0) \)

Dalton is positioned 4 feet straight in front of Isabella, meaning he is directly behind her along the same vertical line (the y-axis). Therefore, since Isabella is at \((-2, 0)\), we find Dalton’s position by moving 4 feet upwards (in the positive y-direction):

  • Dalton's position: \( (-2, 4) \)

Now we have the positions of the dancers clearly defined:

  • Belle: \( (0, 0) \)
  • Isabella: \( (-2, 0) \)
  • Dalton: \( (-2, 4) \)

Now, let's calculate the distances Isabella travels during her movements.

  1. From Isabella to Belle:

    • Isabella moves from \((-2, 0)\) to \( (0, 0)\).
    • The distance is calculated as follows: \[ \text{Distance} = \sqrt{(0 - (-2))^2 + (0 - 0)^2} = \sqrt{(2)^2 + (0)^2} = \sqrt{4} = 2 \text{ feet} \]
  2. From Belle to Dalton:

    • Isabella moves from \( (0, 0) \) to \( (-2, 4) \).
    • The distance is calculated as follows: \[ \text{Distance} = \sqrt{((-2) - 0)^2 + (4 - 0)^2} = \sqrt{(-2)^2 + (4)^2} = \sqrt{4 + 16} = \sqrt{20} = 2\sqrt{5} \text{ feet} \]
    • Approximating \( \sqrt{5} \approx 2.236 \): \[ 2\sqrt{5} \approx 2 \times 2.236 = 4.472 \text{ feet} \]
  3. From Dalton back to Isabella's original position:

    • Isabella moves from \( (-2, 4) \) back to \( (-2, 0) \).
    • The distance is: \[ \text{Distance} = \sqrt{((-2) - (-2))^2 + (0 - 4)^2} = \sqrt{(0)^2 + (-4)^2} = \sqrt{16} = 4 \text{ feet} \]

Finally, we sum up all the distances that Isabella travels: \[ \text{Total distance} = 2 + 2\sqrt{5} + 4 \] Substituting \( 2\sqrt{5} \approx 4.472 \): \[ \text{Total distance} \approx 2 + 4.472 + 4 = 10.472 \text{ feet} \]

Rounding to the nearest tenth, we find: \[ \text{Total distance} \approx 10.5 \text{ feet} \]

Thus, the total distance Isabella traveled is 10.5 feet.