Robot Jocks
Two robots exploring a strange planet start from the same point.
Robot A proceeds 300 m North, then turns and goes 400 m West.
Robot B goes 300 m South, then turns and goes 400 m East.
Robot B then throws a baseball to robot A, who catches it. How far did the baseball get thrown? Answer in meters.
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2 solutions
Moderator note:
A better solution would be to calculate the actual vertical and horizontal distance between A and B, instead of "distance from A to O + distance from O to B". In this case, you managed to obtain the right answer, because BOA is in a straight line, IE "Robot B travels in the exact opposite direction of Robot A".
Using the Pythagorean theorem: a^2 + b^2 = c^2
Robot A travels 300 m north and 400 m west, therefore the total distance from the starting point is the hypotenuse of a triangle. To obtain the hypotenuse of this triangle use the Pythagorean theorem. The length of the hypotenuse is the square root of; 300^2 m North + 400^2 m West = 500 m Northwest. So, the length of the hypotenuse is 500 m northwest from the starting point.
Robot B travels 300 m South and 400 East, which is the opposite direction of Robot A. This is 500 m Southeast from the starting point. The starting point is the midpoint of the distance the two robots traveled, which is the sum of the hypotenuses of both triangles . So the total distance is 500 m+ 500 m = 1000 m