Question

Both Hank and his sister leave the house going to two different places. Hank is going to the theatre which is 3 blocks east and then 2 blocks south from their house. His sister is going to the skating rink which is 5 blocks west then 3 blocks north from their house. Both Hank and his sister take a shortcut by walking a straight line to their locations.



Part A: What is the total distance they walked once they reached the theatre and rink?  Round answer to the nearest tenth of a mile.

Answer 1

I can compute the straight-line distances but I need the length of a block in miles to give the answer in miles.

Distances from the house:
- Hank: sqrt(3^2 + 2^2) = sqrt(13) ≈ 3.6056 blocks
- Sister: sqrt(5^2 + 3^2) = sqrt(34) ≈ 5.8310 blocks

Total = sqrt(13) + sqrt(34) ≈ 9.4366 blocks.

If you tell me how many miles one block is, I’ll convert and round to the nearest tenth of a mile. (For example, if 1 block = 0.1 mile, the total ≈ 0.9437 mi ≈ 0.9 mi; if 1 block = 0.05 mile, the total ≈ 0.4718 mi ≈ 0.5 mi.)