Question

If you travel 5 miles east and then 3 south, how far are you from your starting point?

Answer 1

`sqrt34~=5.83` miles

Explanation:

Let `O` be the starting point.
You travel 5 miles east to point `A`.
and then 3 miles south to point `B`.
Your movement is shown in the figure above.

As `OAB` forms a right triangle,
we can find the distance `d` from the starting point to point `B`, using Pythagorean theorem :

`=> d=sqrt(5^2+3^2)=sqrt34~=5.83` miles