Sharon and her camping group hiked 6 miles due north, stopped for lunch, and then hiked 8 miles due west, stopping at ther campsite for the night. What is the straight line distance from their original starting place to the campsite?

Answer 1

Because you're looking for the hypotenuse of a right triangle, use the Pythagorean Theorem:

a^2 + b^2 = c^2
6^2 + 8^2 = c^2
36 + 64 = c^2
100 = c^2
10 = c