Alfonso knows that the distance across the field from his home to Carla's home is 50 meters. A nice place to pick flowers is 40 meters directly east of his home and directly south of Carla's home. How far from Carla's home is the flower-picking spot?

Answer 1

You've described a right angle triangle. The hypotenuse is 50 meters. One leg of the triangle is 40 meters. The other leg (the distance from Carla's home to the flowers) is the other leg.

In this equation, c = 50 and a = 40. Solve for b using this formula:
a^2 + b^2 = c^2.

If you post your answer, we'll be glad to check it.

Answer 2

a^2. does that mean squared??

Answer 3

Yes. a^2 means a squared.

Answer 4

(40)^2 + b^2 = (50)^2
1600 + b^2 = 2500
-1600 -1600
b^2 = 900
im not sure wat the next step is

Answer 5

You're right so far. :-)
The next step is to take the square root of 900. That will tell you the distance from Carla's house to the flowers.

Answer 6

ok i see.i was'nt sure what the opposite of b^2 would be.
thesquare root of 900 is 30.
the distance from Carla's house to the flowers is 30 meters.

Answer 7

You're right! Yay!

Answer 8

90