Problema Solution
Two cars leave an intersection. One car travels north; the other east. When the car traveling north had gone 18 miles, the distance betweeen the cars was 6 miles more than the distance traveled bythe car heading east. How far had the eastbound car traveled?
Answer provided by our tutors
Let the distance travelled by eastbound car be x miles.. Since it is given that distance between the two cars was 6 miles more than the distance travelled by the car heading east.
It means that , the distance between two cars must be (x+6) miles.
Since east and north directions are perpendicular , right angled triangle is formed having sides
18 and x forming right angle and (x+6) as hypoteneous.
Using Pythagorous theorem , we get
18^2 + x^2 = (x+6)^2
i.e. 324 + x^2 = x^2 + 12*x + 36
subtracting x^2 + 36 from both sides , we get
i.e. 288 = 12*x
dividing both sides by 12 , we get
x = 24
It means that eastbound car had travelled 24 miles.
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